Russ Anber: "Joshua was better in the second fight than he was in the first"

The IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 14 KOs), Russ Anber, who is the titleholder, shared the details of his rematch with Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs), which Usyk won on August 20.

"The ninth round was a great round for Joshua. Usyk doesn't have much experience in professional boxing, but he calmly survived those attacks. Joshua was pressing, and it looked like he was shaking Usyk, but Alexander didn't panic or get scared. He just survived the attacks without much damage," said Anber, who is also an experienced and respected coach.

"Alexander admitted he lost the ninth round. He knew Joshua would rush into the attack. But he took it calmly. He got back in the corner and looked good, which was confirmed in the tenth round. We used water and ice in the corner, he was fine," the Canadian added.

"Joshua definitely got better after the first fight. He was clearly better than he was last year. He had better defense, and he was hard to hit. He didn't let his defense get through. He tried to respond to every Usyk's attack. As for referee Feldman, who awarded the victory to the Briton, Alexander said in the locker room after the fight that the right man won and that's the main thing," summed up Anber.