The Ukrainian retained his world heavyweight titles with an impressive display in which he saw off a spirited challenge to win 115-113 and 116-112 on two judges’ scorecards
Joshua displays guts but emotion shows in bizarre speechPhotograph: Hassan Ammar/APPhotograph: Hassan Ammar/APLast modified on Sun 21 Aug 2022 04.00 BSTit was ultimately all too much.
And perhaps Joshua didn’t know what he was doing, or saying, either. It certainly felt like heat-of-the-moment stuff, provoked by a very real sense of hurt and disappointment. But it was at that very moment Usyk showed his class, smashing Joshua back in the 10th with a big left hook and continuing to unload from there. He also dominated the final two rounds and, having largely impressed throughout the contest, it came as no shock when he was declared the winner, the only surprise being that it was via a split decision, with two of the judges delivering scores of 115-113 and 116-112 in his favour while the other deemed Joshua to be the winner via a score of 115-113.
This was the second time Joshua had fought in Saudi Arabia, following his victory over Andy Ruiz Jr in Diriyah three years ago. As was the case then, both fighters were asked in the buildup about how they could justify taking part in an event that, quite clearly, was part of the kingdom’s sportswashing strategy. Neither gave especially satisfactory responses, with Joshua making clear he was “here for boxing”.