Footage shows Anthony Joshua speaking with Vasyl Lomachenko before taking Usyk's belts off the Ukrainian's trainer prior to throwing them to the ground; Joshua lost world heavyweight title rematch against Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night
Tuesday 23 August 2022 06:01, UK
New uncut footage shows what sparked Anthony Joshua's emotional reaction in the aftermath of his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
After the result of Saturday's world heavyweight title rematch was announced, Joshua is initially pictured calm while shaking hands and chatting with Usyk's suited manager Egis Klimas seconds.
He proceeds to exchange words with Ukraine's former three-weight world champion Vasyl Lomachenko, seen in a black bucket hat, before fist-bumping two members of Usyk's team and shrugging off another, wearing a black t-shirt, as he tapped Joshua's shoulder seemingly to usher him along.
From there, Joshua takes two of Usyk's belts from chief trainer Yurii Ivanovich Tkachenko, who appeared to be passing them to the champion, before walking to the other side of the ring and tossing them to the ground.
Upon walking back, the British boxer appears to brush shoulders with Tkachenko, who makes a comment in response to provoke a heated exchange of words that saw Joshua's team-mates hold him back.
Joshua is subsequently seen walking out of the ring and throwing his towel in frustration before appearing to react angrily to a comment from somebody not in shot.
He eventually turns around and makes his way back to the ring, where he shakes Usyk's hand while congratulating him again, before seeking out the microphone prior to his post-fight speech.
"I feel nothing but respect for Anthony Joshua," said Usyk afterwards. "I saw he was a bit emotional and he was bullying some of my team-mates.
"But I don't recommend him to have a bare-knuckle fight with them because they are horrible street fighters.
"I have 20 bouts and 20 wins at the moment, some of my guys have 25 [wins] and 25 by the way of knockout."
Joshua has vowed "to be better" after admitting to losing control of his emotions in defeat to Usyk.
He wrote: "I wish @usykaa continued success in your quest for greatness. You are a class act champ.
"I had to mentally take myself into a dark place to compete for the championship belts! I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and both got the better of me.
"I'll be the first to admit, I let myself down. I acted out of pure passion and emotion and when not controlled it ain't great.
"I love this sport so so much and I'll be better from this point on. Respect."
