Oleksandr Usyk beats Anthony Joshua in heavyweight title rematch with split-decision victory

Anthony Joshua lost his heavyweight world title rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia. The Brit was much improved from their first encounter as he once again took the unbeaten Ukrainian the distance. But Usyk’s ring craft just proved too much for Joshua as he clinched victory for the second time on points – taking a split decision 113-115, 115-113, 116-112. The WBA (Super), IBF and WBO world titles remain in Usyk’s hands – and he now takes the Ring Magazine strap too. Joshua, 32, must now rebuild having suffered his third career defeat, while Usyk, 35, remains unbeaten and will be seeking a unification fight with Tyson Fury, who insisted he is open to fighting for all the straps – if the money is right.
Oleksandr Usyk has warned Anthony Joshua to avoid clashing with his team again in future because they are ‘horrible street fighters’. AJ was angry in the ring after he was beaten once again on Saturday night, but the Ukrainian has insisted he’s not taking it personally. At his post-fight press conference, Usyk was asked about the bizarre sequence of events. “I feel nothing but respect to AJ,” he said. “I saw him a bit emotional and like bullying some of my teammates. “That would be a bare-knuckle fight that I don’t recommend him to do because most of them are horrible street fighters.” Anthony Joshua has taken to social media himself now to address last night. AJ tweeted: “Yesterday I had to mentally take myself into a dark place to compete for the championship belts! “I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and both got the better of me.”

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