As previously reported, former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is ready to get back on the horse after suffering the third feat of his career on Saturday, when he faced Oleksandr Usyk in a highly anticipated rematch.
Usyk, who decisioned Joshua back in September of 2021, was also successful in the rematch with a twelve round split decision to retain the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight titles.
But there was controversy afterwards, when Joshua grabbed the mic and went on a four minute rant, filled with profanity, before a stunned crowd in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Joshua said his speech in the ring was a combination of being mad at losing and wanting to speak from the heart.
“When you do things from your heart not everyone will understand, it was just from the heart,” Joshua said. “I was mad at myself, just myself, I wanted to get out of there because I was mad. Then I realized it was sport and I had to do the right thing.
“You see me holding it together and I hold things together and keep my team good, but it comes at a big cost. It will never break me, but it takes real strength and tonight there is a little crack in that armor. The speech was about where I came from. I changed my life through boxing. But Usyk put on an incredible performance, and I want to thank him for taking part in an incredible fight. I am just so upset.
“Usyk is a great champion, he did well on both nights we met in the ring. As a competitor I am very upset, but I have to give the man his credit, it takes a lot to come up in weight, win a belt, defend them. He did it as an amateur and a pro, he is the real deal, I am happy for him.”
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.