Boxing fans can't believe Anthony Joshua won on one judges scorecard
Anthony Joshua was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night, for the second time, but somehow one judge managed to score it for the British boxer.
Joshua was absolutely battered in the first fight against Usyk 11 months ago, and was lucky towards the end of the fight that the Ukrainian ran out of rounds to end the fight early.
The former two time heavyweight champion returned on Saturday night to fight Usyk, this time in Saudi Arabia, and certainly did better this time round.
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However, once again Usyk was far too good for the 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist, and would have been too good for most heavyweights on the night.
Everyone expected to hear that the 35-year-old had won on all three of the judges cards but, this being boxing, of course one of them somehow gave it to the Brit.
On the first card read out, Joshua was given the fight 115-113 and social media couldn't believe what they were hearing.
Usyk retains his heavyweight titles by split decision.
— Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo (@Fentuo_) August 20, 2022
The judge that scored the fight for Joshua must have been asleep. #Usykvsjoshua2
That judge that said split decision need to be investigated
— вιzηєѕѕ (@shaybiz_) August 20, 2022
Split decision my ass. But it’s okay we got the winner we should’ve got. Congrats to both men.
— Sheheryar Abbasi (@sherryabbasi93) August 20, 2022
Usyk take it on a split decision.
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) August 20, 2022
Worried for a second there. pic.twitter.com/doP73YNVsw
Split decision?!? What was that other judge watching? AJ gave a good account of himself but Oleksandr Usyk was a class apart.
— John Bennett (@JohnBennettBBC) August 20, 2022
How can that possibly be a split decision? The judge that gave that to AJ 🤷♂️
— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) August 20, 2022
Split decision???? Please take away that judge’s license, and never allow him near a score card again!! #UsykJoshua2 #boxing
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) August 20, 2022
How tf is that a split decision?😭
— John (@jmcfall97) August 20, 2022
Hahaha. How on earth did he score that by two rounds to Joshua? Split decision. Mad.
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) August 20, 2022
Split decision?! 😂
— gunnerblog (@gunnerblog) August 20, 2022
I assume the split decision is because Mike Dean was judging?
— Rob (@RJPJournalism) August 20, 2022
The judge that gave Joshua the win needs sacking.
— Dan Ingham (@ItsDanIngham) August 20, 2022
Rivera and Zhang robbed by them judges too. Absolute shambles again from the judges.
The judge that gave the fight to Joshua #UsykJoshua2 pic.twitter.com/aBmqBL1t7R
— Gene McGurk (@magawk) August 20, 2022
Sack that judge who scored it for Joshua. Must have been wearing a blindfold. Frightening.
— Ian Darke (@IanDarke) August 20, 2022
Often in the sport, judges decisions are extremely strongly scrutinised when they massively effect the result, but fortunately on this occasion it didn't.
The other two scorers both had it to the Ukrainian, with one going for the same 115-113, just in the opposite direction, and the final judge probably closest to what most fans felt, awarding the champion a 116-112 win.
Earlier in the night, fans were annoyed at the decision that went in the favour of Badou Jack, with most viewers feeling that Richard Rivera should have won.
There was more controversy as the eighth round of that fight was actually four minutes, instead of three, after officials failed to ring the bell at the right time.
However, for once the officials weren't the most controversial part of the night, with Joshua's bizarre reaction to his loss stealing all the headlines.
The former two time champion took the microphone after the scores had been called out, and went on an expletive rant that left viewers shocked.
Topics: Boxing, Heavyweight Boxing, Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk
Ryan Sidle