Anthony Joshua's meltdown after his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk appeared to be sparked by a row with a member of his opponent's team.
Joshua was beaten on points for the second time in 11 months as Usyk held on to his three heavyweight world titles in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. The Brit reacted badly to the result, picking up and throwing two of the belts before he stormed out of the ring, only to return to deliver a passionate and X-rated speech.
And new footage has been released by Sky Sports which sheds light on what prompted Joshua's out-of-character reaction. Immediately after the decision is announced, Joshua went to speak to Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk and cutman Russ Anber. The conversation appears civil as Joshua congratulates members of the team.
He then walks back across the ring and hovers near Usyk who is draped in a Ukrainian flag. The beaten man then picks up the Ring magazine and WBA belts which he holds aloft while muttering something inaudible before he drops them again. At this stage Joshua walks back towards Usyk's team and appears to bump into one member which sparks a reaction.
Joshua is restrained and taken away from the situation but he continues mouth off while attempting to escape the clutches of his mentor. The Olympic champion then leaves the ring, throwing his towel on the ground on his way backstage before having a change of heart and returning.
Joshua climbs back through the ropes, asks, "Where's the mic?" before taking Usyk's flag from him and draping it over his own shoulders. The world champion tells Joshua he is "very strong", to which he says, "I don't care about strong; I have to have skills, being strong doesn't win boxing, skills win boxing. You're not strong, how did you beat me? How? Because of skills. I had character and determination. Where's the mic?"
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The footage ends at this point but Joshua was handed a mic and proceeded to address the crowd, telling stories of his troubled youth while dragging heavyweight legends Mike Tyson and Sonny Liston into the row before mentioning the war in Ukraine.
Joshua later admitted he had "let himself down" with his post-fight actions, writing on social media: "I wish Oleksandr Usyk continued success in your quest for greatness. You are a class act champ. Yesterday I had to mentally take myself into a dark place to compete for the championship belts. I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and both got the better of me.
"I’ll be the first to admit, I let my self down. I acted out of pure passion and emotion and when not controlled it ain’t great. I love this sport so so much and I’ll be better from this point on. Respect."
