Oleksandr Usyk became a two-weight world champion, Saturday, after defeating Anthony Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the WBA, IBF, and WBO world heavyweight titles. Usyk won the bout by judges’ scores of 117-112, 116-112, 115-113.
Joshua suffered a big blow early, in the third round, as well as later in the fight, in the twelfth round.
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“The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go,” Usyk said afterward. “There was times when Anthony pushed me hard but nothing special. I had no objective to knock him out. My corner pushed me not to do that. You didn’t see the best Usyk. I can be much better.”
Usyk is now just the third boxer in history to win world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight. David Haye and Evander Holyfield also share the honor.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn says Joshua will seek a rematch: “A devastating defeat. Usyk is very fit, he’s got great feet, he threw a lot of punches. It was a tough defeat. [Joshua] got beat by the better man on the night. He will want to go straight back into the rematch. The desire is still there. He can do so much better in that fight.”
[Via]