The yellow and blue Ukrainian standard of the 205th battalion — The Colors of Liberty, according to the shirts worn by his entourage here in Jeddah — was a gift, given after his second victorious fight against Anthony Joshua. It had been signed by the soldiers, his compatriots. Now, he had two patriotic souvenirs. Another flag, also bearing the names of men resisting the Russian invasion, adorned the wall of his dressing room at the King Abdullah Sports City Arena. Oleksandr Usyk (pictured) celebrates after his victory over Anthony Joshua on Saturday Joshua was still calculating the magnitude of his defeat in the depths of this auditorium. Obviously, he was struggling, but there was no shame. Losing to the best boxer is a fact of life in his sport. Also, despite his talk of strategy and character, Joshua had encountered a force even stronger than an extraordinary man. As it was evident, as he sat behind the banner supported by comrades ready to give their lives at any moment, Usyk was fueled by the will of a nation. “Defending the title of world champion is a symbol that all who are Cossacks will not abandon their own, will fight and will definitely win,” wrote President Volodymyr Zelensky afterwards. This is not the usual blather around fights. There was plenty of that, too – long speeches telling Joshua he was the real winner, although the only judges’ score that was mocked was the one that had him ahead. But the emotion that has surrounded Usyk’s title defense this week is as real as the horrors at home, as real and necessary as the Volunteer Battalion defending Kyiv that Usyk had joined before he was told he would do more good for morale as a fighter in the ring. Usyk was the better fighter on the night as he scored his second win over the Brit When Usyk spoke, the colors of Ukraine in the foreground, he did not do so as an individual. He spoke of his country, of the names on the flag, and of anyone who recognizes the plight of a nation struggling simply for the right to exist. “It was extremely important for my country,” he began. “I boxed for all of Ukraine and half the world. Despite my ability to control my emotions, I was worried about this. “During the eighth round I saw in Joshua’s eyes that he felt victorious. I said to myself, “You can’t stop, you shouldn’t stop, you just can’t stop.” Big things were at stake. And now the victory is with Ukraine. Ukraine won.” Some post-match speeches sound like empty rhetoric. Not with Usyk. Not now. Everything he says, everything he does – this cruiserweight from Simferopol – becomes a metaphor for his country’s fight against an overwhelming opponent. His height, his range, his weight, everything is inferior to Joshua. However, his numbers, his numbers, his numbers, belie the value of all that volume. Usyk’s 170 punches were the most Joshua has ever landed. His 39 in the 10th alone are Joshua’s most in a single round. And over the last three rounds, Usyk landed 79 of 232 punches, compared to 29 of Joshua’s 149. It wasn’t that Joshua failed to execute his game plan to work Usyk’s upper body. By the halfway point in Jeddah he had taken more body shots than in the entirety of their first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However, Usyk absorbed it. Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s manager, admitted he believed his man was on the verge of victory at the end of a superb ninth round. He also started the 10th impressively. However, then, from a well of sheer determination, Usyk came back. The 10th became his best round, the 11th and 12th no less impressive as he battled through exhaustion to fend off the bigger man’s increasingly desperate attempts to reclaim his crowns. Joshua is not an evil dictator, but as the biggest, strongest warrior, he embodied Ukraine’s strong resistance to the invasion. “Joshua didn’t use his size advantage at the end,” Usyk said. “Size doesn’t matter when you’re racing, it’s not that important. That’s where the real spirit works.’ And it was in those rounds that Joshua broke. There was something of the hare and the tortoise about Usyk’s plaintive challenge at the end. “You are not strong, how could you beat me?” asked. “Because of skill? I had character, I had determination.’ Not that Usyk is a turtle. With his speedy defensive weaving, anything but. However, it must seem almost impossible for a man of Joshua’s frame twice, and over 24 rounds, to be consistently edged and beaten by a man who punches, quite literally, above his weight. Indeed, the lesson Joshua learned on Saturday – when he put up a much better fight than the first time – was educational. So much bigger in many ways than the numbers on a scorecard or the dispassionate assessment of three ringside judges. Joshua’s strange speech at the end of the fight – after initially throwing two of Usyk’s belts disrespectfully out of the ring and walking out, before reconsidering and returning – was evidence of a messed-up mind. Not from concussion, as was feverishly speculated, but from the havoc wreaked on rational processes. It turned him into a creepy caricature, stepping on the mic while the champ patiently waited his turn, a Kanye West moment that some have concluded, citing West taking the mic from Taylor Swift at an awards show in 2009. insisting on her “Best Female” award. The video wasn’t worth it. Yet even as we listened to Joshua’s vain and selfish monologue, even as we felt the clumsiness of a man who had always held his own so well, we appreciated that the blow he had received was so diminished. Joshua truly dreamed of a unification fight with Tyson Fury. He truly saw it as his destiny. This is no longer the fight people want to see. They think they know Joshua now. That he will always be undone by a better technician. And Fury is a better technician. Usyk was gone by the time Joshua entered the post-fight press conference. Surrounded by blue and yellow well-wishers he was incredibly generous with his time and face given his status and journey that evening. His manager, Alex Krasiuk, stayed, telling stories of 100km bike rides in the Dubai heat, of marathon swim sessions, of feats of underwater endurance. The man, the myth. except it’s not a myth. He is the man. And then Joshua entered. It still hurts. It still hurts. She would cry, later, as the questions brought home the enormity of what had just happened. He bumped fists with Krasyuk but, privately, the older one wanted more. “AJ, I want to tell you, you have the biggest heart,” she began. ‘You are the one.’ And then he bade him sit down, and the pair talked quietly on the steps of the platform, until all was said and done. “Come here and tell them this,” Joshua pleaded, perhaps half-jokingly and in need of validation. However, there was clearly mutual admiration despite the awkward events in the ring. It’s not written in the stars that Ukrainian athletes are carried to glory by the inspiration of adversity, but Joshua faced more than just a brilliant fighter here. Usyk was asked about the future of his country. “That we will win,” he said. “That our economy will grow, that tourists from all over the world will travel to Ukraine because it is beautiful and rich in history. “Now the whole world knows that Ukraine is defending itself against the second largest army in the world and we have remained strong. Open your eyes, Ukraine will never give up. We will beat them, we just need a little more time.’ Vladimir Putin is fighting such a defiant resistance. What chance did Anthony Joshua have?
