PHOTO[COURTESY:SI.COM]
Oleksandr Usyk handed his newly-won heavyweight belts back to Anthony Joshua following his boxing masterclass on Saturday night during a brief dressing room chat.
Joshua, had no answer for Usyk’s elusive movement over the duration of 12 rounds with the former cruiserweight king awarded the victory on all three judges’ scorecards.
Usyk returns to Ukraine with the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles having ended Joshua’s second reign as heavyweight king, as well as shattering his hopes of a super-fight with WBC champion Tyson Fury. Despite losing out to Usyk on Saturday night, Joshua is able to keep his belts as a former champion, while the Ukrainian will be sent a set of fresh ones.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed that AJ is entitled to an immediate rematch with Usyk and the Watford-born knockout specialist is intent on taking up that option as he looks to kickstart his ‘road to undisputed’.