Our champion again reminded about the importance of this fight for Ukraine
WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) commented on the victory over the ex-world champion Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) at the post-fight press conference.
“One judge gave the win to Joshua. That’s the difference between this and the first fight. This fight is very important for my country, the team and for me personally. Because I boxed for the whole country and half the world. It was different in that although I can control my emotions, I was a little, but still worried … Especially in the ninth round. It came as a surprise. Anthony, at the time when it was the eighth round, believed that he had won, I saw it in his eyes. But I kept repeating to myself, “You can’t stop.” Quite a lot was at stake. And thank God that there is a victory, the belts go to Ukraine. Ukraine will win.”
“Why are the belts going to Ukraine? [Джошуа] not fully used [своим шансом]. Size doesn’t matter when you’re boxing. It was a real war in the ring. And the size has nothing to do with it. I think the spirit is at work here. God helped me, my team and my training.”
“Seeing Joshua’s behavior after the fight, I didn’t feel anything. Emotions are all normal, you need to communicate with him. What did he say to me? The good things that Joshua said, I accepted, but not so close to my heart. Because I want to remain a humble person, I don’t want to be overly proud. Something like this… I don’t believe in good words. I don’t want to be proud, I’ll be humble and I’m working on it. Pride kills – whoever exalts himself, God lowers him. And whoever lowers himself, God will raise him up.”
“I’ve got k [Джошуа] respect, I respect this man. But he was emotional, he saw that he was throwing himself at someone from my team. If he still wanted to fight with his fists, then I do not advise him to do this, because half of my team is street fighters. I have 20 fights now and some of my guys are 25 and outside. 25 fights – 25 knockouts, they won all 25.”
“My statement is ‘fury or nobody’? Yes, I said it. Fury’s claim that he’ll beat me and Joshua on the same night? He dreams about it every day. Do you know what he will beat? Your ass.”
“The future of my state? We will win. And we will be economically at a very high level. A lot of tourists will come to us, because our country has a rich history. Many people in the world are already seeing this. They knew Ukraine thanks to the athletes: Klitschko, Shevchenko, Usyk, Lomachenko. Now the whole world knows our country as defending itself from the second army of the world. I just want to say that some people in the world underestimate someone. open your eyes [на то]what is happening in the world, what is happening in Ukraine. We will [бороться] to end. We will go to the end and we will win. It just takes a little time for it.”
“Putin does everything and shows that he is stronger and more beautiful. Actually it is not. He shows that he is strong, but in fact he is weak.”
Immediately after the victory over Joshua Usyk, he challenged WBC champion Tyson Fury to a fight. And Anthony called the Ukrainian a “phenomenal talent” and later apologized for his emotions after the fight.
Following the results of all twelve rounds, Usyk defeated Joshua by a split decision: 115-113, 116-112 and 113-115.
Recall that the first fight between Usyk and Joshua took place in the fall of 2021. Then the Ukrainian defeated the Briton by unanimous decision and became the WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion for the first time.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
