Last night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in a tight duel Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) defeated Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) by split decision. Thus, the Ukrainian defended the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles, and received the world title according to The Ring.
Judges' scores at the end of 12 rounds: 115-113, 116-112 and 113-115. According to statistics from Compubox, Alexander landed more accurate shots than Anthony Joshua - 170 to 124.
Oleksandr Usyk proved his superiority over the Briton for the second time. Recall that in September last year, he deprived Joshua of titles in his territory, winning by unanimous decision.
“I dedicate this fight to my state of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to everyone who defends my country, to my team, to my whole country,” Oleksandr Usyk said after the victory. — This is history. It will be watched by many generations, especially the round where they tried to hit me hard. But I persevered and turned the fight in my favor."
Immediately after the fight with Joshua, Alexander announced his intentions for WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury: “Fury has not retired, he wants to box. I will either box with Tyson Fury or I won't box at all."
Photo by Matchroom Boxing/Mark Robinson.
