Oleskandr Usyk has admitted he fell asleep sitting up while in his hotel after defeating Anthony Joshua.
The Ukrainian became unified heavyweight champion last year when he outpointed Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Joshua faced heavy criticism after the fight for his tactical approach which saw Joshua unable to land any significant blows, as Usyk dominated large portions of the meeting.
Despite having faced rare difficult moments, Usyk felt he was in a tough test against Joshua despite the notion that the previous champion was far from his best. “It was a really difficult fight for me,” Usyk said. “Everybody keeps saying it was an easy walk, but, no, it wasn’t. It was a hard fight for him and for me. After the fight I came back to the hotel and I took some food and I fall asleep sitting [up].”
Usyk's face showed signs of significant marking and swelling after the final bell with Joshua's power clearly having an effect. Joshua has a significant size advantage over Usyk but was unable to impose his larger frame, with Usyk boxing his way to victory.
Joshua has since changed up his training team after the defeat, parting ways with Rob McCracken and joining up with coach Angel Fernandez. After touring a variety of gyms in the US, Joshua has now also added experienced trainer Robert Garcia to his team as he looks to overturn his victory.
Usyk has had a more turbulent preparation for the fight so far having returned home after the victory to take up arms against Russian invasion in his home country. After eventually being in the position to sign on the dotted line, Usyk returned to training and will look to retain his titles this August.
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The former two-time champion's promoter Eddie Hearn is certain that Joshua can take confidence from giving Usyk a hard night's work despite the defeat. "He has finally accepted the mistakes he made in the first fight and that is what he is saying now," Hearn said.
"We have always seen a way to beat Usyk but getting in there and doing it is a whole lot different. I am much more confident now he has shared twelve rounds with him. That is what he didn’t do in the first fight he wasn’t himself it isn’t difficult just be yourself in the fight and beat him.
"Yeah he can possibly win on points but I think he can knock him out. But that is what you have to do is cut him off and f****** hit him anywhere you want around the body. He doesn’t like it around the body, he said after the fight Usyk‘ that was a hard night’s work’ and he didn't even hit him."
