4 hours Ago By [email protected] (Matthew Abbott)
Oleksandr Usyk has been shown respect by Anthony Joshua after beating Tyson Fury in their world heavyweight boxing championship rematch. Fury lost unanimously after all three ringside judges scored it 116-112 . Unlike the first fight, Joshua did not attend the event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which Usyk won by split decision 115–112, 114–113, 113–114.
The former two-time unified world heavyweight champion watched from home instead and agreed with the result, unofficially scoring the fight 115-114 in favour of Usyk. Joshua also lost by unanimous decision to the Ukrainian fighter three years ago at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before losing a split decision 11 months later in Jeddah. 'AJ' showed respect to Usyk after both fights and has done just that again after his latest fight.
Posting on his Instagram story following the event, Joshua shared a Ukraine flag emoji with the word "respect" added underneath. After being beaten by Daniel Dubois three months ago , Joshua has yet to announce who his next fight will be against. The identity of that opponent depended on whether Fury beat Usyk or not.
Had the Manchester native avenged his defeat, then that would have set up a third fight, a trilogy contracted to happen in that scenario on the assumption that neither retired from boxing in the aftermath of their rematch, with Fury now 36 and Usyk turning 38 in January. However, after losing, that is no longer guaranteed despite it still being a closely contested fight, with Usyk winning unanimously, according to the three ringside judges. If another fight does not happen, or Usyk rematches Daniel Dubois instead, then there is the potential for Fury and Joshua to finally fight each other five years after it seemed they would.
Dubois could also rematch Joshua. However, he must first defend his IBF title against Joseph Parker in February..
