Eddie Hearn admitted Anthony Joshua “exploded” after his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk - but insisted his reaction was “human”.
Joshua was outpointed by the Ukrainian in their rematch in Saudi Arabia, losing a split decision and failing to regain his heavyweight world titles. After the decision was announced, a visibly upset Joshua flung two of the belts out of the ring and stormed out as members of his team tried to restrain him.
He eventually returned to the ring where he took the microphone and delivered a speech to the crowd before the victorious Usyk, still celebrating his triumph, was able to say his piece. It saw Joshua criticised on social media - and Hearn was immediately asked about his reaction in the ring after the fight.
“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.”
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Hearn reserved huge praise for Usyk, revealing how he felt the final three rounds turned the fight in his favour after Joshua had enjoyed his most success in round nine.
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“Firstly, what a performance from Oleksandr Usyk,” Hearn said. “In the ninth round I ran over, I thought we had him. The 10th round was one of the best rounds I’ve seen to turn the right, not back around because it was very close at that point, but what Usyk did in the 10th, 11th and 12th was incredible and that was the difference tonight.
“AJ didn’t start fast enough but he fought a much better fight. He hurt Usyk badly in the 9th and I thought he was going to come on strong, but Usyk came out like a train and, as I said, that 10th round was the moment he decided to regain the fight.
“It was an incredible performance. He’s just too good, and there’s no shame in it. The 10th round, the 11th round, that’s why he’s the pound-for-pound number one.”
Asked how he saw the fight, Hearn said: “I felt it was. 115-113 to Usyk. They asked me what I thought when I got in (the ring). They thought it was close, I thought it was close but I felt Usyk won the fight because of the 10th, the 11th and the 12th.
“Going into those rounds I had it very close, possibly AJ one round up after the ninth, but the championship rounds showed a championship fighter, a pound-for-pound great and that was the difference. It was a great performance from Anthony Joshua.”
Meanwhile, 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.”
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