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After getting outplayed by Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Anthony Joshua revealed that he would soon be seen taking a rematch with the opponent. Notably, Oleksandr won the game by a unanimous verdict of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 in his favour.
Thought Joshua also enjoyed some successful moments during the fight, there is no doubt that Oleksandr emerged as the stronger opponent on the match-day.
“Well done to the winner... We’ll be back again, get back into training. Great 12 rounds, great experience in the ring. We progress from this point once again... We’ll be doing it all again soon,” said AJ after his loss.
Oleksandr dominated the fight and an eye injury to Joshua only increased the latter's trouble. When asked about what went wrong in the fight, Joshua said: "Just taking a loss, but we’ll get it right... From the ninth, I couldn’t see in the ninth round, couldn’t see anything really, my eye was shut." However, he added that such a situation was a "good experience" for him as the adversity would help him learn self-control.
100 % chance of a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, reveals Anthony Joshua
Talking about the rising curiosity among the fans on the chances of a rematch, AJ revealed that it will take place for sure. “100 per cent, 110 per cent... I’m ready to get back to training. It was a good 12-rounder, so I’ll be in a good place when I get back into training to pick up where we left off,” he said.
Joshua admitted that his opponent Oleksandr Usyk had "good pace" and highlighted that it is due to his light weight, but, meanwhile, warned that he would be landing more punches on him when the two meet next.
“But he still gets hit, he gets hit a lot and in the rematch we’ll just learn how to hit him more and be more concussive with our punch selection… I’m just looking to go in there improved, stronger, smarter and I believe I’ll get a good win in the next fight because of what I learned (from) this fight... I’m a quick learner and we’ll bounce back,” said AJ.