Aside from that simply appalling score card that somehow had Anthony Joshua winning the fight, the big talking point immediately following the Oleksandr Usyk-Joshua rematch, was Joshua’s post-fight meltdown, his bizarre mid-ring rant. After slinging two of Usyk’s world heavyweight belts out of the ring, Joshua took the microphone and basically poured his heart out over the way we “don’t know” what he’s been through, what obstacles he has had to overcome to get where he is at today.
It was shocking seeing the usually reserved, contained and PR friendly Joshua losing it, using foul language and feeling so sorry for himself. Joshua has now issued an official apology for his actions.
“Yesterday I had to mentally take myself into a dark place to compete for the championship belts! I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions, and both got the better of me,” Joshua wrote. “I’ll be the first to admit, I let myself down. I acted out of pure passion and emotion and when not controlled it ain’t great. I love this sport so much and I’ll be better from this point on. Respect.”
Does Joshua mean he’ll be a better fighter from this point on, or does he mean he’ll go back to being his “humble” self, personality wise? Of course, Joshua is not the first fighter to lose it in a post-fight interview (and maybe, after a tough, hard fight, during which a boxer has been repeatedly hit in the head, the last thing he or she should be doing is talking into a microphone with millions watching) and he has been forgiven by plenty of people. Joshua perhaps gave us a pretty big glimpse of his real self in the ring in Jeddah, this after he has been seen as such a controlled, even manufactured person all these years.
Frank Warren, speaking with IFL TV, was quite shocked at the way Joshua acted.
“All those things that he talked about that had happened [in his earlier life], they’re in the past,” Warren said regarding Joshua’s “rant.” “He’s been blessed. He’s made a lot of money. He was in the right place at the right time to fight Charles Martin. He’s done well for himself. He can’t say he had no amateur experience – he fought in the World Championships, the Olympic Games, he won a gold medal.
„He’s had his problems, but everyone’s got a bit of baggage. Sonny Liston had baggage, Mike Tyson had baggage. And he’s in the ring with the guy who’s probably had the worst baggage of anybody at the moment in boxing. His family are being bombed and God knows what in Ukraine. Can you imagine what’s going on in his head going into that fight, having to train while your homeland’s getting destroyed?”
Indeed, Usyk has dealt with simply enormous pressure, yet he did deal with it. Joshua may not have got too much sympathy from those watching his “rant,” and maybe you feel he didn’t deserve any sympathy. At least Joshua has apologised. But how will the fans look at AJ from here on in? Did the mask slip, and does Joshua now have an altogether different reputation as a result?
