British boxer, Anthony Joshua was on Saturday outclassed by Ukrainian southpaw Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham, handing the former champion his second career defeat.
As a result, Joshua lost his WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight championship belts, a defeat that may scupper hopes for a match with fellow Brit fighter, Tyson Fury.
Joshua ended the fight pinned to the ropes by a flurry of punches – and that late flourish came after Usyk had already built up an unassailable lead on the judges’ scorecards.
After his stunning knock-out defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr in New York in 2019, this defeat – Joshua’s first on home soil – felt nowhere near as freakish.
There will be a re-match next year.
After years of speculation, a fight with Fury had come close to fruition in Saudi Arabia this summer only for American lawyers to scupper the contest all Britain craved, demanding that Fury completed his trilogy against Wilder first.
