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Ringside footage of Anthony Joshua's immediate reaction to the judges' scorecards on Saturday night has emerged online.
The 31-year-old Olympic champion was beaten by the better man on the night as he suffered a unanimous points defeat to Oleksandr Usyk inside the capacity Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
The Ukrainian fighter landed more power punches than AJ, who rarely troubled his opponent throughout the 12-round fight, and Usyk came close to a knockout in the final stages.
:clapper: :clapper:
- Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) September 26, 2021
Oleksandr Usyk beat Anthony Joshua on an unanimous points decision to become world heavyweight champion pic.twitter.com/UzH1KRnSFa
Despite Usyk's masterclass inside the ring, judges Howard Foster, Steve Weisfield and Viktor Fesechenko considered the bout to be close up until the ninth round - when Joshua suffered a nasty eye injury.
In fact, AJ claims he "couldn't see in the ninth" after picking up what appears to be a broken eye socket.
Ultimately though, Usyk dominated the final three rounds and his hand was deservedly raised.
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk official scorecards. Fight was in the balance after eight (77-75, 76-76, 76-77), then Usyk won the last four rounds on all three judges' cards... pic.twitter.com/IcqtTQOhyn
- Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 26, 2021
Hours after Usyk was crowned the new WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion, ringside footage emerged of Anthony Joshua's 'sarcastic' reaction to the scorecards.
As you can see in the slow-motion clip below, he initially looks shocked at the result but moments later, Joshua smiles, nods his head and shrugs.
You can just sense he knew what was coming.
The end of a second reign...:microphone::pencil: pic.twitter.com/KO6NgiskbB
- Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) September 25, 2021
Joshua's reaction to the result was hilarious. Pretended he was shocked but abandoned it immediately
- Si Lloyd (@SmnLlyd5) September 25, 2021
So what went wrong in the fight? "I couldn't see in the ninth round, couldn't see anything really because my eye was shut," Joshua admitted afterwards.
"It was a good experience because in adversity you've just got to learn to control yourself, stay on top of things, so when I couldn't see anything - it's the first time that it's happened in a fight."
What's next for Anthony Joshua? Will he be able to bounce back after that crushing defeat?
Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports
Topics: reaction, Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Oleksandr Usyk