Anthony Joshua’s career was plunged into uncertainty after he suffered another defeat by Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
The Briton gave an improved, determined performance in Saturday’s colossal rematch as he attempted to join an exclusive club of three-time world champions following a meek loss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 11 months ago, but ultimately he just could not find the solution to dethrone supreme southpaw Usyk, who retained the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles, also picking up the vacant Ring belt recently relinquished by Tyson Fury.
Despite his typically stylish work and strong finish in the championship rounds, Usyk only won by split decision 113-115, 115-113, 116-112, with one judge bizarrely giving the fight to Joshua by two rounds.
The Ukrainian - a former undisputed cruiserweight king who has had only four fights at heavyweight - will now attempt to coax WBC champion Fury out of retirement for a lucrative showdown to become the first undisputed champion of boxing’s blue-riband division since the great Lennox Lewis.
Usyk’s crowning achievement was soured somewhat by the uncharacteristic post-fight behaviour of Joshua, who tossed two of his belts out of the ring and looked to storm backstage before returning and grabbing the microphone and launching into an extraordinary, expletive-laden outburst as passions boiled over.
Joshua will now need to assess what comes next in his illustrious career, with some huge fights likely available despite his fall from the heavyweight elite.
On Saturday’s undercard, Filip Hrgovic outlasted Zhilei Zhang in a final heavyweight eliminator for Usyk’s IBF crown that was two years in the making, despite a Jekyll and Hyde display in a topsy-turvy bout in which momentum swung violently back and forth.
Former super-middleweight titlist Callum Smith continued his quest to become a two-division world champion as he stopped Frenchman Mathieu Bauderlique with a trademark counter left hook in the fourth round of a lively eliminator for the WBC light-heavyweight belt currently held by the fearsome Artur Beterbiev.
There was controversy as former two-weight world champion Badou Jack, stepping up to cruiserweight at the age of 38, beat Richard Rivera by split decision despite an impressive display from the little-known and unorthodox American, who felt he had done more than enough to claim a career-best triumph against the odds.
Ramla Ali made history with a ferocious quick knockout of Crystal Garcia Nova in the first professional women’s bout ever to be held in Saudi Arabia, while Britain’s Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo 2020 Ben Whittaker battled through a shoulder injury in a more low-key second professional win over the determined Petar Nosic.
There were also early victories for home favourite Ziyad Almaayouf, Andrew Tabiti, Daniel Lapin and Traycho Georgiev, while Jordan’s Bader Al Samreen dominated a four-round swing bout against Fuad Tarverdi.
