Anthony Joshua was left with a badly damaged right eye after his heavyweight defeat to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night and was checked over by medics following the 12-round contest.
Usyk continued to land heavy southpaw shots throughout the bout and Joshua’s black eye started to show prominently after the 10th round.
The British heavyweight failed to make use of his 18lb weight advantage over the cruiserweight king who controlled the contest before finishing the final round strongly with a barrage of shots.
Joshua left the ring soon after the unanimous 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 verdict was announced at White Hart Lane.
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Fight promoter Eddie Hearn said afterwards: “I don’t know if AJ suffered eye socket damage but he’s gone to hospital now.”
Hearn also said Joshua would have a mandatory rematch and the Brit felt he already knew how he could beat Usyk next time around.
British former super-middleweight champion Carl Froch was a pundit for the fight and said the damage to AJ’s face looked significant but not serious.
Froch added he felt AJ had shown “too much respect” to Usyk whose head movement and ring craft were the key factors as Usyk claimed AJ’s heavyweight WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
Joshua ended the fight pinned to the ropes by a flurry of punches from Usyk who said afterwards he felt he could have knocked his opponent out.
The result is the latest obstacle to AJ finally facing WBC championTyson Fury in a fight the boxing world have long wanted to see.
That showdown had already been derailed because Fury now has to fight American Deontay Wilder for a third time on October 9.
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COMMENTS
A bad day in the office for our brother. I think he should focus on getting quality health treatment and taking a year break from the game. I’m afraid something is off sonewhere with Joshua and he’s not at his lethal best like the version that knocked out Klitscho. But cos of the pressure from the IBF, his promoters and the fans, he had to put up a show and false confidence – when he wasn’t actually in the best frame of mind and shape for a fight.
To be honest, I saw this defeat from a long mile away reading his body language for a while now, his hide and seek with Fury and his double-speak in body language. It lacked bite or real confidence, like he was unsure of himself. He kept saying Usyk stepped up from the cruiserweight division too quickly and should have waited sine years more. That was a dead giveaway. Even during the weigh-in, he kept staring timidly down at Usyk while the shorter fighter fixed a wickedly confident gaze at him. It was all in the eyes and body language at the build-up.
And one more thing, he should stay away from these distracting Nigerian ‘celebrities’ who want to milk him for his money and to chase clout. We know how Iheanacho, Musa and others game started dipping when AY started dragging them to his lame comedy shows and they started hanging out with Phyno & co. Leave these people. Sports is a focus business, not celebrity shows. Same goes with all those belt displays and shenanigans with Buhari. After all, you represent GB and FG has no shame they were ignored representation for GB.
Not to take anything away from Usyk. He’s a gutsy, hungry fighter. He’ll go far. I see him and Wilder dominating the division in the long run (Fury has gone flabby shaped again). Thank God SJ never got to meet Wilder and Fury now + maybe in the future when he’s fitter and more mentally prepared.
My brother I totally agree with you. How all our musicians are now friends with sports stars tire me. See Joshua?
Usyk said he used one and a half year to prepare for this fight while I’m sure during that period AJ was busy cruising from one club to the other like kel as pointed out above. That’s what separated the two no doubt.Seems Nigerians lack the discipline to maintain top achievements. Same thing happened to our brother who won the title earlier and reign for only a year. Getting to the top is not problem but maintaining same height consistently .Big lessons for all aspiring young Nigerians