Anthony Joshua was a keen observer on Saturday night as his long-time foe Tyson Fury stepped into the ring with his former opponent Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua has long been linked with a fight with Fury and many believed for that to happen Fury would have to come through this historic undisputed fight, which he failed to do and has now taken his first loss.
After the conclusion of the fight, Joshua was chatting with his promoter Eddie Hearn and football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who he had sat next to in the front row during the fight.
Speaking to BoxNation, Hearn revealed what Joshua thought at the conclusion of the 12 rounds and it seems he was in no doubt about the winner.
“I went over to him after the fight and I said what do you think and he said ‘are you joking?’ and he said Usyk was the clear winner, but a lot of people had it like that.”
Other clips show that although AJ named Usyk as the likely victor he was eventually persuaded to concede, “it could be a draw.”
Hearn then gave his own view on the fight.
“Most people think Usyk won the fight but I thought it was a fight of two halves. I gave Usyk one, probably two of the fist six rounds. I thought Fury was in cruise control, I thought he was going to stop him, hurt him to the body and stunned him a couple of times.
“And I think Usyk turned it in the eighth round, busted Fury’s nose then had the knockdown and I gave him most of the rest of the rounds.”
Usyk’s victory was secured via a split decision, with a crucial ninth round playing a key role. During this round, Usyk landed several powerful punches. These blows left Fury stumbling around the ring, and with the ropes barely holding him up, an official knockdown was awarded.
Although Fury did well to rally and stay in the fight in the later rounds, he wasn’t deemed to have done enough to have won the contest.
There is a contracted rematch that could now be triggered for later in the year should Fury want to do it all again. Both men said in the ring afterwards they would be ready for round 13 though once the dust has settled and options have been assessed, that could all chance.
Meanwhile, it has long been suggested that the IBF will be stripping their belt and that Joshua could fight for the vacant title, possibly against Filip Hrgovic later in the year.
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