After an initial emotional denial Anthony Joshua accepted his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk, describing him as one hell of a fighter.
Usyk beat him on a split decision, which Joshua first rejected but later embraced.
He said as he congratulated the winner: “Usyk is one hell of a fighter. That’s just emotio
” If you knew my story, you’d understand the passion. I’m not an amateur boxer. I was going to jail and I got bail and I started training. If I got sentenced, I wanted to be able to fight.
“It shows the passion we put into this. For this guy to beat me tonight, it shows the levels of hard work he must have put in so please give him a round of applause as heavyweight champion of world. h
“They said that I’m not a 12-round fighter. I ain’t 14 stone, I’m 18 stone, I’m heavy. It’s hard work. This guy here is phenomenal.”
