By Craig Daly: Oleksandr Usyk says he didn’t like the way that Anthony Joshua “bullied” his teammates when he melted down mentally after his loss last Saturday night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. At one point, Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) grabbed two of Usyk’s belts and threw them out of the ring.
Later, Joshua went into a long expletive-filled rant, appearing to be looking for sympathy from the crowd. It was hard to listen to; particularly, there were a lot of young fans and families in the audience.
“I saw him a bit emotional and bullying some of my teammates,” said Oleksandr Usyk at the post-fight press conference about Anthony Joshua’s bizarre behavior.
“That would look like a bare-knuckle fight, but I wouldn’t recommend him to do because most of them are horrible street fighters. I have 20 wins at the moment. Some of my guys have 25 and 25 wins by way of knockout,” Usyk warned.
“I didn’t mind Joshua’s reaction at all,” said Gareth A. Davies to talkSPORT. “He was full of adrenalin and desperately disappointed. He was very emotional.
“Anthony Joshua is always the A-side in terms of the promotion. He was still the A-side here. There’s a reason why we’re here with big money, Eddie Hearn, and the whole backing.
“Usyk is a supreme boxer, but Joshua is the superstar, and he was acting, not petulantly, but he said too much. He gave massive praise to Usyk. The flag, all those things. It was a faux pas; there’s no doubt. He’ll be a little embarrassed.
“Everybody at home was behind him. Stylistically, outside of Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk is the biggest problem in the division. I think Anthony Joshua showed an improved performance. I agree that his stock has risen.
“He did all the right things this time. In the middle of the fight, he seemed to lose focus, but he came back again. I had him 5-4 up after 9, but then Usyk used all his boxing tricks to look really good and he did what he said he would do, which was retain the belts.
“It was a phenomenal fight. I’d watch them fight again, by the way, because I think Joshua has more improving to do, and we saw it tonight,” said Davies.
