Anthony Joshua has revealed the surprising cause of his post fight outburst following his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah last year.
Joshua threw Usyk’s three world titles on the floor, before grabbing the microphone and going on a somewhat bizarre rant, in what observers described as a “meltdown.”
Speaking to SecondsOut, ‘AJ’ explained that a compliment from Usyk’s close friend Vasiliy Lomachenko was to blame for the unsavoury scenes at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium
“People might not understand this, but when Lomachenko said I was strong, I took it disrespectfully.”
“In football, I see a lot of commentators say African players are just strong, they never talk about their talent. So I found it disrespectful when he mentioned I was strong.”
“As an African, I felt like he was trying to belittle me as someone who is hard working, that’s how I interpreted it. That’s why I got a bit vexed.”
“The emotions were running high, that’s why there was some anger towards their time.”
Joshua had his first fight since the consecutive defeats to Usyk earlier this month, winning a unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin at the 02 Arena.
Despite emerging victorious in comfortable fashion, many observers felt Joshua looked tentative and gun shy against Franklin , and did not produce the highlight reel knockout his backers would have been hoping for.
It was the former unified world champion’s first outing under new coach Derrick James, with whom he has been working in Dallas since the start of this year.
There had been talk before the Franklin fight that a blockbuster all British dust up with Tyson Fury could be next, however Eddie Hearn has since said he would prefer the 33 year old have at least one more outing under James.
Fans may have to wait longer for this than expected, after Joshua claimed on social media over the weekend that his next fight will not be until December.