To keep his heavyweight belts, Oleksandr Usyk overcame Anthony Joshua once more in a split decision.
The Ukrainian boxer prevailed over Joshua by scores of 115–113 and 116–112, respectively, from two of the three judges.
In front of tens of thousands of spectators at the King Abdullah Sports City Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night, Usyk defeated the British boxer of Nigerian descent.
The WBA, IBF, and WBO belts that Joshua lost to the Ukrainian in September 2021 were among the goals Joshua had going into the bout.
The fight got underway with fresh vigour for both boxers. In the opening rounds, the two men exchanged quick hooks and jabs.
Joshua’s better performance encouraged Usyk to demonstrate a more clinical part of his skill set.
The thrilling 12-round fight saw both of them engage in combat before the judges declared a winner.
Joshua stormed out of the ring after the announcement and hurled two of the title belts over the edge of the ropes as its Joshua’s third loss in a row; his first came against Ruiz Jr. in 2019 and his second came against Usyk in 2021.
Later, he returned to the ring, picked up the microphone, and expressed his dissatisfaction in front of the King Abdullah Sports City crowd.
“If you knew my story, you would understand the passion,” he said.
“I ain’t no amateur boxer from five-years-old that was an elite prospect from youth. I was going to jail, I got bail and I started training my a*** off, I wanted to be able to fight.”
