British-Nigerian boxer, Anthony Joshua, has described himself as a “new breed of heavyweight” after losing the heavyweight rematch to Oleksandr Usyk.
He said this on Sunday after the match which was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The fight was tagged ‘Rage on the Red Sea’.
The PUNCH reports that Usyk beat Joshua by a split decision to retain the heavyweight titles.
Joshua was awarded a 115-113 decision by the first judge. However, Usyk is awarded it 115-113 and 116-112 by the other two judges, and the Ukrainian retains his titles.
Addressing the crowd after the fight, Joshua said he had an elite prospect from youth.
He said, “I’m not a 12-round fighter, look at me, I’m a new breed of heavyweights, Mike Tyson, Sonny Liston, Jack Dempsey, ‘you don’t throw combinations like Rocky Marciano’, I’m 18 stone, I’m heavy, it’s hard work. This guy here is a phenomenal talent, we’re going to cheer for him three times.”
He added, “If you knew my story you would understand the passion. I ain’t no 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 arse off, I wanted to be able to fight.
“I’m stealing this Usyk I’m sorry, but it’s because of the passion we put into this. This guy to beat me tonight, maybe I could have done better, but it shows the level of hard work I put in so please give him a round of applause as our heavyweight champion of the world.”
