From the moment Oleksandr Usyk’s arm was raised, it looked as if Anthony Joshua had made peace with his second successive defeat to the Ukrainian. Usyk’s national flag was draped around both men, and within minutes, Joshua was hailing “one hell of a f**king fighter”.
Yet moments earlier, the two-time world champion had stormed out of the ring and been escorted away by security. Replays showed him throwing two belts to the floor, as he appeared to take issue with someone in his corner.
When he returned, he could also be heard telling Usyk: “You ain’t big, you ain’t skilled, you’re not strong, how did you beat me?”
When Usyk was asked if he thought he had definitely done enough to beat Joshua, his reply was short. “Yes, of course.”
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Joshua did appear to retract his initial reaction, however, as he took to the microphone after the fight. “That’s just emotion, look if you knew my story you would understand the passion,” he said. “I was going to jail… I got bail and I started training my arse off.”
Finally, he gave credit to Usyk and addressed the conflict in Ukraine. “Under them circumstances, he managed to become champion,” he added.
Usyk, meanwhile, dedicated his successful title defence to the people of his homeland – and immediately called out Tyson Fury for an undisputed heavyweight showdown.
“I give all this victory to my country, my family my team, military who are defending the country, thank you,” he said. “This is already history, many generations are going to watch this fight, especially the round when someone tried to beat me hard and I turned it.”
Asked whether he now has WBC champion Fury in his sights, he added: “I’m sure Tyson Fury is not retired yet, I’m convinced he wants to fight me, I want to fight him. If I’m not fighting Tyson Fury I’m not fighting at all.”
Eddie Hearn weighed in too, suggesting Fury had deliberately avoided the former cruiserweight.
“Tyson Fury’s a clever man,” Hearn said. “He had the chance to fight him [Usyk], he chose not to.”
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On Sunday evening, Joshua took to Twitter to clarify his stance. “I wish [Usyk] continued success in your quest for greatness,” he wrote. “You are a class act champ. Yesterday I had to mentally take myself into a dark place to compete for the championship belts! I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and both got the better of me.
“I’ll be the first to admit, I let my self down. I acted out of pure passion and emotion and when not controlled it ain’t great. I love this sport so so much and I’ll be better from this point on. Respect.”
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