Anthony Joshua stormed out of the ring in fury and threw two belts out of the ring after being beaten on points by Oleksandr Usyk.
The British star was beaten for a second time by the Ukrainian in their rematch in Saudi Arabia. But Joshua was visibly emotional after the split decision was announced as he picked up two of the belts and slammed them to the ground. He then stormed out of the ring as his team attempted to restrain him before he was convinced to return to the ring.
He briefly spoke to Usyk before grabbing the microphone and launching an impassioned monologue about the fight in which he praised Usyk as a champion. He branded his opponent "one hell of a f***ing fighter".
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"Usyk is one hell of a f***ing fighter, let's give him a round of applause," Joshua said. "Sorry guys, look, if you knew my story you'd understand the passion.
"I ain't no amateur boxer from youth, I was looking at jail. I'm stealing this Usyk, I'm sorry but it's because of the f***ing passion.
"I'm not a 12 round fighter, I'm a new breed of heavyweight, Mike Tyson, Sonny Liston - they say 'he doesn't throw combinations like Rocky Marciano,' because I'm not f***ing 14-stone."
Joshua, with new trainer Robert Garcia in his corner, produced a much-improved performance 11 months on from his first. But Usyk again proved to be too good, being given the nod on two of the three scorecards.
Asked about Joshua's upset and if he felt he had won the fight, Usyk said: "Yes, of course."
"I want to thank everyone who prayed for me," Usyk added.
"I want to thank God for the help that he gave me today because he did give me a lot today, my lord is Jesus Christ. Thank you Saudi, thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Inshallah.
"I devote this victory to my country, to my family, to my team to the military who are defending my family thank you very, very much.
"This is already history, many generations are going to watch this fight, especially the round where someone tried to beat me hard but I withstood it and turned in a different way.
"I'm sure that Tyson Fury is not retired yet, I'm convinced he wants to fight me, I want to fight him and if I'm not fighting Tyson Fury I'm not fighting. Only God knows whether I will or not.
"All of these gentlemen here around me are going to help me. Thanks Lord for helping me."
Speaking in the Sky Sports Box Office studio after the fight, Carl Froch branded Joshua’s treatment of the belts “disrespectful” and accused him of “stealing Usyk’s moment”.
“He got the mic, he stole Usyk’s moment,” Froch said. “Let’s not get too mad, he didn’t say anything that would’ve offended anyone too much, he was just trying to speak off the cuff, put his heart on his sleep and hopefully he didn’t offend anybody.
“But he did steal Usyk’s moment. It was a bit strange, I think he was so emotionally built up to win that fight, then the way in which he lost.
“I thought it was a great performance, Let’s about the performance in a minute, I don’t think that’ll do him any damage.
“I didn’t like the way the belts got thrown. That Ring Magazine got chucked down there, I never had that belt and I just don’t like that, that’s disrespectful.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn said: “You saw the reaction from AJ, and that was from a human who wanted to win so badly with so much pressure on his shoulders,” Hearn said when interviewed by Sky Sports Box Office.
“I think he just exploded because he lost and he was devastated, and he’s given everything to try and win this fight. He couldn’t win the fight, he’s a competitor, he’s a winner but this man’s too good.”
