Who won the Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight last night? (September 25, 2021)
Anthony Joshua took on undefeated Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on September 25.
It was Joshua's second consecutive title defense. Meanwhile, it was only Usyk's third fight at heavyweight. A former cruiserweight, Usyk weighed in at 221 pounds, much lighter than his 240-pound British opponent.
Usyk shocked the world by beating Anthony Joshua via a unanimous decision. In doing so, he became the new WBA (super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion.
He stepped on the gas from the get-go, troubling AJ with his movement and crisp striking. While Joshua deserves a lot of credit for hanging on until the end despite getting tagged repeatedly, Usyk put on a masterclass.
The main event turned out to be everything it promised to be and more. Both men went to war inside the squared circle. The back-and-forth thriller, which went the distance, is definitely a Fight of the Year contender.
Despite heading into the fight as an overwhelming underdog, Usyk gave Anthony Joshua one of the toughest fights of his career.
Catch some of Twitter's reactions to the main event fight below:
I watched Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk and I think AJ isn’t ready to fight Tyson Fury. Period https://t.co/98JVDYYXhk
@usykaa just put on an absolute clinic - @anthonyjoshua was brave & had a decent mid-fight, but Usyk is a thoroughbred pugilist. This changes the heavyweight landscape for a little while - it's leaves hopes for Fury vs Joshua in the long grass somewhat.
Never seen @anthonyjoshua struggle that much. Even when he lost to Ruiz I don't think he was that uncomfortable.
A dominant performance from Usyk. The rematch will be insane
Say goodbye to Fury Vs AJ though. Would be a huge mismatch anyway let's be honest #JoshuaUsyk
Lawrence Okolie defended his WBO cruiserweight title against Dilan Prasovic in the co-main event. Okolie was the favorite heading into the fight and he showed why inside the ring.
The British fighter scored a big knockdown in the second round with an overhand right. He then finished the job in the third frame with a vicious body shot that rendered Prasovic unable to continue any further.
Lawrence Okolie finishes Prasovic with a vicious body shot 😮
#OkoliePrasovic https://t.co/J8cWT98Y64
Britain's Lawrence Okolie retained his world cruiserweight title with a comfortable third-round knockout of Dilan Prasovic
#joshuavsusyk https://t.co/LN2KqWYE1O
𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙻𝙻 👑
Who do you want to see Lawrence Okolie in with next? 💥 https://t.co/iXIdtzaIT7
Campbell Hatton, son of former British champion Ricky Hatton, escaped with a somewhat surprising unanimous decision win against Sonny Martinez.
While Hatton deserves credit for staying in the fight until the end despite facing heavy adversity, Martinez clearly landed the meatier strikes. That's why, when the judges unanimously scored the fight 58-57 in favor of Hatton, quite a few eyebrows were raised.
Campbell Hatton moves to 4-0 in London ⏫
#JoshuaUsyk https://t.co/dNrzJJ8x3k
Campbell Hatton appears to be beaten in his fourth pro fight by 2-4 late-replacement opponent Sonni Martinez, but gets the win by 58-57 six-round referee points decision. Woeful scoring.
Callum Smith shocked the world in his light-heavyweight debut by violently knocking out Lenin Castillo in the second round of their fight.
A nasty right hand was all it took for Smith to put Castillo away. The strike sent the Dominican crashing to the canvas. He had to be stretchered out of the ring following the scary KO.
Check out the vicious knockout below:
Callum Smith brutally knocks out Lenin Castillo. https://t.co/hnaFxguSxN
Callum Smith put the light heavyweight division on notice with a huge knockout in his 175-pound debut. #JoshuaUsyk
(📸: @MatchroomBoxing) https://t.co/if73HkaVfm
Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk: Full results
Oleksandr Usyk def. Anthony Joshua via unanimous decision (117-112, 116-112, 115-113)
Lawrence Okolie def. Dilan Prasovic (third-round KO)
Campbell Hatton def. Sonny Martinez via unanimous decision (58-57 x3)
Callum Smith def. Lenin Castillo (second-round KO)
Florian Marku def. Maxim Prodan via split decision (96-94, 97-93, 91-99)
Christopher Ousley def. Khasan Baysangurov via split decision (95-95, 97-94, 97-94)
Daniel Lapin def. Pawel Martyniuk via referee decision (60-55)