​Boxing Expert Explains Why Final Round Of Anthony Joshua Fight Seemed To End Early

A boxing expert has explained why the final round of the Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk fight appeared to end early, after many people took to social media to suggest the bell was rung prematurely.

Usyk beat Joshua via unanimous decision yesterday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - in turn claiming the IBF, WBA and WBO belts.

After the fight, many people took to social media to say they believed officials rang the bell '5 seconds early'.

Podcaster Joe Rogan reposted footage shared by another Instagrammer, who had written: "Great fight. @usykaa performed brilliantly. As I saw on @frankboxingcoach of you count down the seconds you can see they rang the bell 5 seconds early? Was it to save AJ? Very strange?"

Pondering the claims, the podcaster asked his followers: "Did they really ring the bell for the last round early?"

Others on Twitter suggested the same, with one writing: ""Did you notice that the bell rang 5 seconds earlier in the last round to save Joshua? In my opinion, Joshua would have been knocked out if the bell had not saved him in the last round. I am still shocked by Usyk performance! Well done man, you really deserve it."

But one expert reckons he knows what's happened.

Luke Thomas, a combat sports analyst for CBS Sports, has claimed it may be something to do with the on-camera time being off.

Commenting underneath Rogan's Instagram post, Thomas wrote: "On camera clock is unofficial, technically."

If you watch footage of the final round back, the action does, indeed, appear to last the full three minutes.

Alamy

The on-screen timer simply seems to be out of sync with the fight itself, hence why it perhaps looks like the round finished prematurely.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the fight, Usyk said his trainer had urged him not to knock Joshua out.

He said: "I had no objective to knock him out because my trainer, in my corner, pushed me not to do that.

"In the beginning, I hit him hard and tried to knock him out.

"But then my trainer said: 'Just stop, and do your job'."

LADbible has contacted Matchroom Boxing and DAZN for comment.

Topics: SPORT, News, Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Oleksandr Usyk

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman