Anthony Joshua’s tears and tirade show the burden of boxing’s spotlight

It was shortly before 4am local time that Anthony Joshua met the crowd that had been waiting for him. Alongside his promoter, Eddie Hearn, the 32-year-old strode into the press conference room located at the back of the Abdullah Sports City media centre and took a seat behind the podium. He and Hearn then started taking questions and everything was proceeding as normal, until someone asked Joshua if he was proud of the performance he had delivered in defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.

“Am I proud of myself?” Joshua said. “It’s hard to say if I’m proud of myself. I’m upset. Really, deep down in my heart …” Everyone waited for him to finish his answer, but he had no more words. Only emotion. Joshua leant forward, covered his eyes and, quite clearly, was in tears.

It had been that sort of night, one of intense sporting action but also one in which the athlete gave away to something more human. A rawness that was as engrossing as it was difficult to watch.

It was surprising because it came from a man who for so long has been the epitome of restraint. Joshua may punch people for a living but he also comes across as a nice guy. Charming, sweet, the type of boy a father would happily allow his daughter to have dinner with. But here, on a hot night in Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian city by the Red Sea, that all burned away.

Having lost to Usyk for a second time and consequently failed in his bid to regain his status as a world heavyweight champion, Joshua lost it all over again. He threw two of the victor’s three belts out of the ring before storming out of it himself. Having returned, he then exchanged angry words with Usyk before taking hold of a microphone. In front of the 10,000-strong crowd, he delivered a curious, foul-mouthed