Anthony Joshua loses to Usyk: Tony Bellew defends Brit’s bizarre antics after fight

All eyes were on Saudi Arabia last night as Oleksandr Usyk fought Anthony Joshua in defence of his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles.

After a rollercoaster fight which Usyk won on a split-decision, the eyes of the world were drawn to the Briton and his bizarre antics rather than the deserving champion.

All seemed fine when Joshua draped half of his opponent’s Ukrainian flag over his shoulders, showing solidarity with Usyk and his nation during a truly torrid time, with lots of words of congratulations being exchanged.

However, events began to take a turn for the worse. Joshua seemingly had a split-second change of heart and suddenly picked up and dropped two of Usyk’s belts out of the ring before storming to the dressing room.

Not content with this strange display of emotion, the Watford born fighter returned to the ring and grabbed the microphone.

What followed was one of the most outlandish speeches the world of sport has seen since Eric Cantona’s ‘as flies to wanton boys, we are the Gods’ declaration in 2019.

Joshua was allowed two minutes to address the 10,000 spectators in a rant, in which he both congratulated Usyk and called out critics of his style:

Anthony Joshua makes an impassioned speech to explain his post-fight frustrations and congratulate his opponent.