Heavyweight king dethroned, boxing stunned

Boxing has crowned a terrifying new heavyweight king after Anthony Joshua was beaten to a pulp in a blockbuster showdown today.

Anthony Joshua has been sensationally stripped of his heavyweight title after suffering a shock loss to Oleksandr Usyk on Sunday morning (AEST).

Joshua, the reigning WBA, IBF and WBO champion, was the favourite heading into the blockbuster showdown but Usyk delivered what commentators called “the fight of his life” to cause a spectacular upset.

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The Ukrainian scored a unanimous decision victory (117-112, 116-112, 115-113) to stun the boxing world and put the heavyweight division on notice that there’s a new king in town.

Joshua was cooked at the end of the slugfest. He slumped to his chair in the corner while Usyk paraded around the ring, confident he’d done enough to win over the judges and secure the biggest victory of his career.

The shock result means Joshua’s highly-anticipated clash with countryman Tyson Fury — set to be worth a combined purse of $377 million — is off the cards.

“This means a lot to me,” Usyk said. “The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go.

“There were times when Anthony pushed me hard but nothing special.

“I’ve been working so hard since January. It took me some half a year.

“You didn’t see the best Usyk. I can be much better.”

Quizzed about a potential rematch, Usyk said he wasn’t thinking about it and instead just wants to go home and see his children.

Promoter Eddie Hearn said it was a “devastating defeat” for Joshua, whose plans have been thrown into disarray.

“Usyk is very fit, he’s got great feet, he threw a lot of punches,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “He was probably a bit more aggressive than anticipated.

“It was a tough defeat. He got beat by the better man on the night.

“He (Joshua) will want to go straight back into the rematch.

“The desire is still there. He can do so much better in that fight.”

Joshua was rocked early in the bout as the underdog stunned fans by taking the upper hand in the early rounds. Usyk wasn’t afraid to come forward as he showed plenty of aggression.

But the Brit soon found his groove and settled into a rhythm. Most pundits agreed the 31-year-old rebounded to claim several rounds of his own after the early onslaught before the tables turned once again in the seventh round.

Joshua gave a nervous smile after copping some brutal blows then stumbled and looked shaky on his feet when he dropped his guard and got nailed in the head.

Things evened out in the next couple of rounds. Joshua looked good when he went to the body but didn’t go there often enough — though his right hand remained a potent weapon and Usyk was always on the lookout.

A sharp left hand from the challenger did more damage in the 10th round as blood started to drip out of Joshua’s nose. Both fighters had swelling under their right eyes as spectators lapped up every moment of what was unfolding into a classic.

Usyk appeared to be worse for wear. His cut was deeper and blood was streaming into his eye as Joshua went in for the kill — but when the Englishman went to his corner at the end of the 10th it became apparent how bad his own ailment was. His right eye was nearly closed over entirely.

Commentators believed Joshua needed to win the final two rounds to win the fight but Usyk ramped up the intensity. Joshua was in search of a knockdown but it never came and at the end of 12 rounds, there was only going to be one winner.

Boxing world reacts

Journalist Barry Anderson said Usyk’s performance was “one of the most intelligent bouts of boxing I’ve ever seen” while combat sports reporter Kevin Iole called it an “unreal fight”.

Boxing correspondent Al Dawson added: “A deserved victory after a masterclass performance in London. Unbelievable to clear out the cruiserweight division, and then pick Anthony Joshua apart in style in front of 70,000; one of the biggest stages.”

Joshua had the edge in height and reach and was favourite with the bookmakers heading into the fight. But Usyk’s movement and overall technical skillset from an awkward southpaw stance led many seasoned observers to predict a close contest — and they were right.

Usyk, 34, a former undisputed cruiserweight world champion, won heavyweight gold at the London 2012 Olympics while Joshua triumphed in the super-heavyweight division.

Joshua took on his WBO mandatory challenger after a potential bout with Fury, the British WBC champion, fell through.

Star hospitalised after sickening KO

Lenin Castillo was “responsive” having been rushed to hospital after being knocked out by Britain’s Callum Smith on the undercard of Joshua’s fight against Usyk.

An overhand right from the Liverpool boxer midway through the second round struck Castillo flush on the temple and saw referee Bob Williams halt the contest as soon as the Dominican had hit the canvas.

Smith (28-1, 20 knockouts) had jumped onto a rope following his victory before cutting short the celebrations when he realised just how severely he had hurt Dominican Republic fighter Castillo, whose legs appeared to be trembling as paramedic treated him promptly inside the ring at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Castillo, 33, was attended to where he lay for several minutes before carried away on a stretcher to sympathetic applause from spectators watching the light-heavyweight bout.

Promoter Eddie Hearn wrote on Twitter: “A horrible brutal knockout. Castillo is responsive and on his way to hospital.”

This fight was the 31-year-old Smith’s first at light-heavyweight, having suffered the inaugural defeat of his professional career in December last year when Saul “Canelo” Alvarez convincingly deprived him of his World Boxing Association (WBA) super-middleweight title.

With AFP

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