Anthony Joshua was convinced that Oleksandr Usyk had emerged victorious against Tyson Fury in their undisputed heavyweight bout on Saturday evening.
Usyk secured the win via split decision, defeating Fury in Saudi Arabia and acquiring the WBC heavyweight belt to add to the IBF, WBO, and WBA titles he had initially taken from Joshua in 2021.
Fury had been leading on two of the judges’ scorecards after eight rounds, but Usyk shocked the Gypsy King with a powerful overhand left in the ninth round. The subsequent barrage of unanswered punches compelled Fury to take a standing count.
Although all three judges scored the final round in Fury’s favor, it was too late as Usyk had already clinched victory with scores of 115-112 and 114-113 on two scorecards.
Joshua was sat ringside alongside Cristiano Ronaldo to watch Usyk hand Fury the first loss of his professional career in a thrilling fight.
TNT Sports caught Joshua’s reaction moments after the final bell and when asked who he believed won the fight, he promptly responded, “Usyk.”
In a surprised tone, the individual inquired, “Really?” to which Joshua replied, “Huh, who do you think?”
In an interview with iFL TV after the fight, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said: ‘He [Joshua] thought Usyk won.
‘I come over and said, ‘what do you think?’, he went, ‘Usyk won it easy’. I had it quite close, he went, ‘pfft’.
‘I thought Fury boxed fantastically well the first six rounds of the fight, I thought he was well on his way to boxing to a stoppage or a points decision, and Usyk… just incredible, I can’t believe it.’