Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk 2 LIVE: Result and reaction as Usyk wins thrilling fight by split decision

Follow the reaction as Usyk beats AJ in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia before some bizarre post-fight shenanigans

Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk in tense face-off ahead of Saudi Arabia fight

Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight titles with a split decision win over Anthony Joshua on Saturday in a rematch in Saudi Arabia that was closer than last year’s first fight.

Both fighters held up the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag as the judges’ scores were read out at King Abdullah Sport City arena. When he was declared the winner, Usyk hid his face behind the flag. The 35-year-old Usyk kept his WBA, WBO and IBF belts six months after serving in the Ukrainian army as part of the country’s defence against Russia’s invasion.

Joshua was much improved but Usyk demonstrated his technical brilliance to triumph 115-113, 116-112, 113-115 on the scorecards. After the fight, Joshua stormed out of the ring before returning and giving a bizarre speech to the crowd.

Follow reaction from Joshua’s defeat below:

Usyk vs Joshua 2

• Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk clash in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• Callum Smith delivers sensational fourth-round knockout to beat Mathieu Bauderlique
• Anthony Joshua ‘left out to dry by his team’ during post-fight outburst, says Frazer Clarke
• Oleksandr Usyk sends Tyson Fury message after retaining heavyweight titles over Anthony Joshua
• Anthony Joshua outburst in full after defeat to Oleksandr Usyk

[20 August 2022 16:20 · Alex Pattle]

Usyk vs Joshua 2

The undercard is under way in Jeddah!

Already YouTube star Money Kicks has lost his professional debut against Traycho Georgiev.

Money Kicks – real name Rashed Belhasa – was supposed to fight Floyd Mayweather this year, but the bout fell through.

Instead Belhasa stepped out against Georgiev this afternoon, losing via split decision.

Now in action are light-heavyweights Daniel Lapin and Jozef Jurko.

[20 August 2022 16:15 · Sports Staff]

Usyk vs Joshua 2

“Eddie Hearn wanted to be candid. When asked why the biggest boxing match of the year was being held in Jeddah rather than New York, Las Vegas or London, the answer was clear.

“‘The problem at the moment is no one wants to be honest,’ said Anthony Joshua’s longtime promoter. ‘I’m very comfortable, particularly in boxing, to make decisions like that. It’s a prize fight where, contractually, we have to go to the venue that ultimately creates the most amount of revenue for this fight – whether AJ likes it or not.’

“A big sporting event being sold to the highest bidder is nothing new clearly, but the many critics of the staging of this fight would argue something else is at play when the eyes of the world descend on Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.”

Here’s Alex Pattle on Joshua vs Usyk 2 and sportswashing:

[20 August 2022 16:05 · Sports Staff]

Usyk vs Joshua 2

How exactly did Usyk beat Joshua last September?

Ahead of the pair’s highly-anticipated rematch in Saudi Arabia this evening, our Combat Sports Correspondent rewatched the first fight and broke down the rounds that proved key for Usyk.

Full breakdown from Alex Pattle:

[20 August 2022 15:52 · Alex Pattle]

Usyk vs Joshua 2

“Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk will be far from the jeers, cheers, bullets, death and their own dreams when the first bell sounds for their fight in Jeddah on Saturday night.

“It has been nearly a year since Usyk outpointed Joshua in front of 67,000 bemused fans in north London; a lot has happened in the life and times of both since that night at Spurs.

“Usyk has been armed and dangerous and praying to survive in a brutal war in his beloved Ukraine homeland. He is a national idol with a difference. Joshua has spent 11 months searching for answers and changing his team and his mind for a fight he has to win.

“In Jeddah, the pair have been suitably edgy, ready for silence and the opportunity to fight; Joshua has long finished with soft soundbites and aspirational quotes. Here in Jeddah, the kid who had it all and lost it, has found his missing hunger.”

Here’s Indy Sport columnist Steve Bunce again, coming at tonight’s title fight from another angle:

[20 August 2022 15:40 · Alex Pattle]

Usyk vs Joshua 2

“The selection process for Joshua’s new coach, a process that took the Briton across the pond, generated speculation and intrigue in equal measure. It became arguably the most curious narrative of the build-up to the rematch. Eventually, Robert Garcia became the newest addition to Joshua’s team, the man tasked with reversing the result of last year’s showdown in London and doing what no coach has done: finding a way past Usyk.

“With Joshua’s long-time trainer Rob McCracken having stepped away from the 32-year-old’s coaching set-up, Angel Fernandez will take on a more prominent role alongside Garcia.

“But make no mistake, any credit or blame for the result of Joshua’s rematch with Usyk will be placed on the shoulders of Garcia and Joshua, much more so than on those of Fernandez.”

A look at Joshua’s potential gameplan(s) for tonight, and why they may all be bad ones...:

[20 August 2022 15:29 · Alex Pattle]

Usyk vs Joshua 2

“Last September, when Joshua and Usyk met in north London, the exotic was missing, but it was a fight of surprises. Usyk had it easy far too often and Joshua got so many rounds wrong that it was a shock. Usyk admitted a few weeks ago that it was a hard fight and that he had suffered in victory. His face was badly cut and bruised. It was not the simple boxing lesson that too many in our bitter game insist it was.

“In defeat, Joshua changed trainers and he has since shared some of the confusion that he was hearing when he went back to the corner on the night. He left the ring defeated, his face smeared in blood and told Eddie Hearn, his promoter, that he wanted a rematch. The pair were deep in conversation on the way back to the dressing room, walking through thousands, the flashes from phones illuminating their retreat.

“Joshua was too passive; this is his redemption out here on the Red Sea. There is no room in boxing history for the story behind a loss, no time for a catalogue of errors. Nobody cares – he has to put it right once again in Saudi Arabia.”

Full fight preview from Steve Bunce:

[20 August 2022 15:25 · Sports Staff]

Usyk vs Joshua 2

We’ve had a number of Joshua vs Usyk previews this week – from columnist Steve Bunce, Assistant Sports Editor Jack Rathborn, and Combat Sports Correspondent Alex Pattle.

We’ll be sharing them all right here over the course of the afternoon for your reading pleasure as we build to the biggest fight of the year.

First off, here’s Jack Rathborn on Usyk’s spell in his native Ukraine earlier this year, when the champion aided his nation’s defence against the ongoing Russian invasion:

[20 August 2022 15:10 · Alex Pattle]

Usyk vs Joshua 2

The biggest boxing match of the year has arrived. In Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jeddah, Anthony Joshua will attempt to regain his heavyweight titles in a main-event clash with Oleksandr Usyk, the man who dethroned the Briton nearly a year ago.

Last September, Usyk was a unanimous-decision victor against Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London. The win kept the Ukrainian, 35, unbeaten and crowned him as a two-weight world champion, following his spell as the only undisputed cruiserweight champion of the four-belt era. Joshua, 32, was quick to activate a rematch clause, and this second clash with Usyk was expected to take place earlier this year. Usyk, however, returned to Ukraine to aid his nation’s defence against the ongoing Russian invasion.

Eventually Usyk left his home country to begin preparations for a rematch with Joshua, who is out to become a three-time world heavyweight champion. The Briton previously lost the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts to Andy Ruiz Jr with a shock TKO defeat in June 2019, before regaining them by outpointing the Mexican-American in Saudi Arabia six months later. Can “AJ” replicate that feat and keep alive hopes of an undisputed title clash with compatriot Tyson Fury? Follow live updates and results from all the undercard fights and the main event, right here.