Oleksandr Usyk has warned Anthony Joshua to avoid clashing with his team again in future because they are ‘horrible street fighters’.
AJ was angry in the ring after he was beaten once again on Saturday night, but the Ukrainian has insisted he’s not taking it personally.
The fight itself began with a few tentative opening rounds as Usyk applied his typical elusive movement and landed a couple of straight lefts while Joshua fired off right hands to the body.
After round nine, it seemed close as AJ opened up and fired away at Usyk, seeming to genuinely trouble him for the first time in either of their fights.
However, the Ukrainian responded brilliantly with a dominant tenth which saw him on his way to victory.
He also appeared to win the final two, cementing the second consecutive triumph.
One judge scored it 115-113 for Joshua, but the other two had it 115-113 and 116-112 for Usyk, crowning him the winner by split decision.
Joshua reacted furiously, first taking two of Usyk’s belts and throwing them out of the ring.
He then engaged in angry exchanges with members of his opponent’s team before storming from the ring.
Joshua soon returned to give a passionate speech with which some argued he stole Usyk’s moment.
At his post-fight press conference, Usyk was asked about the bizarre sequence of events.
“I feel nothing but respect to AJ,” he said.
“I saw him a bit emotional and like bullying some of my teammates.
“That would be a bare-knuckle fight that I don’t recommend him to do because most of them are horrible street fighters.”
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