"I ain't no f***ing amateur boxer" - When Anthony Joshua delivered an impassioned speech after losing Oleksandr Usyk rematch
Former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua addressed the crowd after his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
Joshua took on Usyk in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after losing four heavyweight titles to him just a year prior in 2021. Usyk followed up his unanimous decision win with a closer-fought split decision victory, which sent Joshua into a rant.
Joshua threw two belts outside the ring during his outrage and then addressed the crowd and apologized for his "passion." He narrated his own backstory:
"Usyk is one hell of a f*****g fighter, let's give him a round of applause. Sorry guys, look, if you knew my story you'd understand the passion. I ain't no f******g amateur boxer from five-years-old, I wasn't an elite prospect from youth, bro, I was going to jail. I seen some youths in Reading jail, I got bail and I started training my a*** off. Because if I got sentenced I wouldn't be able to fight. I bust my case, my cousin, where's he at? G14. "
Joshua then took Usyk's Ukrainian flag from him and continued:
"I'm stealing this Usyk, I'm sorry but it's because of the f*****g passion we've put into this s**t, man. Guys I'm telling you, this guy to beat me tonight, maybe I could have done better but it shows the levels of hard work he must have put in. So please give him a round of applause as our heavyweight champion of the world."
Joshua went on to get the crowd to cheer on Usyk five times for the five belts that he held and called out the ongoing violence in Ukraine to end.
Check out Anthony Joshua's full address to the crowd after his loss to Oleksandr Usyk:
Anthony Joshua refuses to dismiss Deontay Wilder fight in the future
Anthony Joshua was slated to take on Deontay Wilder in December last year, but the two ended up taking on separate opponents on the same night.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Joshua claimed that fans still wanted to see the fight and that it is not off the table.
"It's a fight that fans want to see. I'm not saying it's completely written off. It's a fight where everything was signed and sealed. It just needed both of us to deliver. And he didn't meet his end of the bargain... I've signed to fight Fury, I've signed to fight Wilder, I've signed to fight a lot of people. I just do good business. I'm a good prizefighter, I don't duck a challenge."
Joshua won on the night against Otto Wallin, but Wilder lost in a shock upset to Joseph Parker after 12 rounds. Joshua will now fight former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou before he turns his attention back to title contention.
Check out Anthony Joshua's post below: