Tony Bellew defends Anthony Joshua’s bizarre outburst in the ring after defeat to Oleksandr Usyk
Tony Bellew has defended Anthony Joshua‘s bizarre outburst after losing to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night.
Joshua was beaten via split decision as he faced his Ukrainian counterpart for the second time in Saudi Arabia, following defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year.
And after delivering a fiery rant on the microphone, former cruiserweight champion Bellew has jumped to his compatriot’s defence – insisting ’emotion and tiredness are working against’ Joshua.
Tony Bellew has defended Anthony Joshua’s bizarre outburst after losing to Oleksandr Usyk
The British boxer produced an expletive-filled rant following his loss to Oleksandr Usyk
In a set of Tweets, Bellew wrote: ‘AJ should be proud of his performance tonight! That is the hardest and most hurt Usyk has ever been in his career!
‘He will be back and I believe will be in huge and amazing fights in the near future.. The raw emotion shown there shows he’s human and hasn’t forgotten his roots!
‘Don’t ever judge a boxer on a post fight interview! I can’t explain to you how much emotion and tiredness are both working AGAINST you! I’ve known AJ a long time and he’s nothing but respectful, honest and decent to everyone! He’ll be back..’
Bellew speaks from experience when talking on Usyk’s hardest fight – having also fallen to defeat against the Ukrainian when they faced off in 2018.
Bellew sent out a series of Tweets to defend his compatriot after the defeat to Usyk
The Merseyside man also fought Usyk – losing to the Ukrainian via KO in 2018
Emotions were evidently running high after Joshua threw two of Usyk’s belts out of the ring and onto the floor after the fight and headed for his changing room before storming back to shake Usyk’s hand.
He then picked up the microphone and went on an expletive-filled rant, discussing the fight, his career and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Joshua also led the sell-out crowd in Jeddah through ‘three cheers for Usyk’ and also highlighted his astonishment at Ukrainian fighters being able to produce title-winning performances as war continues in their home country.
Joshua is expected to take some time off to re-assess the current situation in his career
