A furious Anthony Joshua blew his cool backstage during the aftermath of his rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk after a bystander told the British boxer to ‘keep it professional’.
Joshua lost by way of split decision to Usyk, who successfully defended his IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight belts in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Following his memorable and impassioned speech to the crowd after the bout, the 32-year-old was captured in a seemingly jovial mood as he headed backstage with members of his team.
But the mood suddenly turned sour when a bystander – believed to be referee Malik Waleed, who oversaw Filip Hrgovic’s win over Zhilei Zhang on the undercard – called out to Joshua to ‘keep it professional’.
That prompted the former world champion to lose his temper and react explosively.
As security held him back and escorted him towards his dressing room, Joshua shouted: ‘Who are you talking to? Who the f*** are you talking to? Are you mad?’
His reaction backstage mirrored the fit of temper he displayed directly after losing the fight.
Joshua threw two of Usyk’s belts out of the ring and stormed off, before returning to square up to the victorious Ukrainian.
Grabbing the microphone to address the crowd, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist said: ‘If you knew my story you would understand the passion.
‘I ain’t no f***ing amateur boxer from five-years-old that was an elite prospect from youth.
‘I was going to jail, I got bail and I started training my a*** off, because if I got sentenced I wanted to be able to fight.
‘I’m stealing this Usyk, sorry, but it’s because the f*****g passion we put into this s***.’
Having seemingly calmed down, Joshua went on the praise Usyk on his victory.
Joshua (left) suffered a split decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk – his second defeat in a row
The former world champion delivered an impassioned speech after storming out of the ring
He continued: ‘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 for our heavyweight champion of the world.
‘I’m not a 12-round fighter. Look at me, I’m the new breed of heavyweights.
‘All those heavyweights, Mike Tyson, Sonny Liston, Jack Dempsey… “Oh you don’t throw combinations like Rocky Marciano” – because I ain’t f*****g 14 stone, that’s why.
‘I’m 18 stone, I’m heavy. It’s hard work. This guy here’s a phenomenal talent.’
Joshua cried during his post-fight press conference as the Brit was overcome by emotion
Joshua later broke down in tears during his post-fight press conference as he couldn’t hold back the emotions when asked whether he still feels ‘proud’ of himself.
‘It’s really, really hard for me to say I’m proud of myself. I don’t feel anything, I’m just… I’m upset. Deep, down in my heart,’ he said.
The heavyweight boxer then clearly struggles to utter anything else as he covers his face with his hands and is consoled by Eddie Hearn, who is sat just beside him.
‘I tried a different style. Previously in my career what got me through when I was beating people I have been beating… I was beating them off sheer hungry and passion,’ Joshua continued.
‘In the last fight I wanted to compete as a boxer but it wasn’t good enough and tonight wasn’t good enough.’
Daily Mail (UK)