Anthony Joshua was dethroned after a unanimous decision that gave his opponent, Oleksandr Usyk the victory. Usyk's commanding victory was not a shock because the unbeaten Ukrainian is a former undisputed world cruiserweight champion and, before the fight, there was widespread consensus among boxing’s cognoscenti that Usyk is a much more natural and gifted fighter than Joshua.
Anthony Joshua admitted his world was "crumbling" after his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk last night. The Brit lost his heavyweight world titles for the second time in four fights after being outclassed by his challenger.
Usyk’s speed, movement and accuracy troubled AJ all night long. The Brit had moments of success throughout the fight, but could not maintain this for long enough to emerge victorious. Usyk ultimately outclassed Joshua and had him out on his feet in the final round, with the bell saving AJ from being knocked out. The scores were 117-112, 116-112, 115-113, crowning Usyk a two-division king of the world.
Joshua, who suffered a suspected broken eye socket, embraced his conqueror backstage after the bout before tweeting: "Keep positive even if the world’s crumbling in front of you! London I love you and thank you each and every time!"
Joshua, who was obligated to face WBO mandatory challenger Usyk after a bout against Fury fell through earlier this year, seemed accepting of the result when the scores came as he suffered just the second defeat of his career. The 34-year-old Ukrainian, who won Olympic heavyweight gold at London 2012 the day before Joshua memorably topped the podium in the super-heavyweight category, was slippery and threw in plenty of feints as his opponent tried without much success to establish his jab.
This was just Usyk’s third fight at heavyweight, having moved up to boxing’s blue riband division two years ago.