Oleksandr Usyk has returned the IBO, WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight title belts to Anthony Joshua after winning them off the British boxer on Saturday night.
The Ukrainian visited Joshua in his changing room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium shortly after the fight to give him back the belts after he had posed with them in the ring.
Usyk will be sent a new set of belts after claiming the four titles with a dominant display in north London in his second bout in the heavyweight divison.
His team director Sergey Lapin filmed Usyk returning the belts and uploaded the footage to Instagram, with Joshua heard telling Usyk “See you soon.”
(Image: xxxxxx/Instagram)
Joshua was outclassed by the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion as he fell to his second defeat as a professional boxer.
The loss further delays the a highly anticipated potential bout with compatriot Tyson Fury, who will defend his WBC title against Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas next month.
Instead, he will likely attempt to avenge his defeat with a rematch against Usyk first.
Joshua discussed the potential for a rematch after the fight, responding when asked whether he would trigger the rematch clause in his contract for the fight he said: “100 per cent. 110 per cent.
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(Image: xxxxxx/Instagram)
“I’m ready to get back to training.
“Because of the 12 rounds, my lungs and everything, it was a good 12-rounder, so I’ll be in a good place when I get back into training to pick up where we left off.”
Joshua’s crushing loss to Usyk leaves him without his titles for the first time since he reclaimed them by beating Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.
He is still aiming to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion in the future and reaffirmed his ‘road to undisputed’ intentions after the fight.
(Image: Getty Images)
“The road to undisputed and all that stuff, it’s good,” explained Joshua after his loss to Usyk.
“As I said, I’ll fight Tyson Fury, (Deontay) Wilder, without the belts. The belts are fun. It’s great, it’s legacy. But with or without the belts, I’ll fight whoever.
“The road to undisputed is a nice title to have and a nice title to chase. But would you still watch it, without the belts?
“That’s the main thing – is you’ve got two competitive fighters in the ring from UK soil, that just want to go toe-to-toe.”