Oleksandr Usyk defeats Anthony Joshua in dramatic rematch to retain heavyweight titles

By Sana Noor Haq, CNN

Updated 1232 GMT (2032 HKT) August 21, 2022

Oleksandr Usyk punches Anthony Joshua during their World Heavyweight Championship fight during the Rage on the Red Sea Heavyweight Title Fight in Jeddah.

Oleksandr Usyk stormed through his rematch fight against Anthony Joshua in Jeddah on Saturday to retain his heavyweight titles by a split decision.

The 35-year-old Ukrainian proved unbeatable during the 12-round contest, maintaining his steely nerve to dominate Joshua with a series of heavy blows. Joshua appeared to break Usyk's momentum in the ninth round and landed a spell of punches on his opponent, before retreating into defeat. He was awarded a score of 115-113 from one judge, but Usyk ultimately emerged the stronger contender and earned scores of 115-113 and 116-112 from two judges to retain his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles. Meanwhile, Ramla Ali won her contest against Crystal Garcia Nova of the Dominican Republic in Saudi Arabia's first ever female boxing match. The 32-year-old Ali won in a first-round knockout, improving her career record to 7-0.Ali defeated Nova during a super-bantamweight boxing match in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.Read MoreEmotions run highThe heavyweight title rematch was billed as the «Rage on the Red Sea,» a headline that certainly captured the mood of the night. After suffering his second consecutive loss against Usyk, the 32-year-old Briton picked up two of the Ukrainian's belts, threw them out of the ring and charged towards his dressing room, before returning and taking the microphone to give an impassioned speech. «If you knew my story, you would understand the passion,» Joshua said, adding of Usyk: «I'm telling you this guy to beat me tonight, maybe I