Anthony Joshua broke down in tears at his press conference after Saturday’s world heavyweight defeat to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk. ‘I’m upset, really, deep down in my heart,’ Joshua said. Earlier, Joshua had thrown two of the victor’s three belts out of the ring in Jeddah, before arguing with Usyk and delivering a four-minute monologue. ‘I was mad at myself,’ he explained afterwards. ‘But then I realised, this is sport. Let me do the right thing.’
Joshua admitted to feeling the pressure of trying to regain his titles in Saturday’s rematch, having lost them to Usyk last September. ‘It’s been so tough,’ he said. ‘It will never break me, but tonight you saw a crack in the armour’. The loss appears likely to end Joshua’s hopes of another title shot for the foreseeable future, but he has no plans to retire, adding: ‘I’m a fighter for life, the hunger never dies.’