Anthony Joshua lost again. There’s no other way to describe what happened against Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah.
To WBN, he lost convincingly by eleven rounds to one. Not so with the judges, though, as Usyk was robbed of a convincing win.
Scores read 115-113 and 116-112 to Usyk. But how Joshua got a 115-113 decision is a mystery.
Anthony Joshua meltdown
After his loss, another devastating one to Usyk, Joshua acted like a petulant child and tarnished his reputation.
It seemed like he had a meltdown as he grabbed the belts and threw them over the ropes. He then stormed off only to be convinced to return.
When he returned to the ring, he grabbed the microphone and took over in a rant unseen in boxing before.
Joshua did not live up to his previous moniker as he clearly lost the plot. A sad end to his efforts against the superior Usyk.
Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua 2 results
Zhang Zhilei and Filip Hrgovic waged war for a shot at the IBF title in the heavyweight co-feature.
Both men seemed severely out of shape and spent at times but entertained the crowd nonetheless.
After twelve rounds, judges scored the fight 115-112 twice and 114-113 to Hrgovic. Zhang can feel hard done by.
Former super-middleweight champion Callum Smith fought fire with fire against a brave Mathieu Bauderlique.
Looking a little out of shape, Smith took too many shots clean but knew he had plenty in reserve as the Frenchman went for broke.
Through three rounds, the Liverpool man was not in the clear and needed Bauderlique to open up to get the job done.
Dropping Bauderlique in the fourth, Smith unleashed a flurry of solid blows and would have easily merited a stoppage.
As it turned out, the fight went on for twenty seconds too long, and Smith laid Bauderlique out cold and outside of the ring.
Smith is now closer to a two-weight world title shot. At the same time, Bauderlique increased his stock for sheer entertainment value.
Richie Rivera seemed to have overcome the odds to grab his most significant career victory with a surprising performance over a sluggish Badou Jack.
Not to be.
Popeye
‘Popeye, The Sailor Man’ avoided most of Jack’s haymakers. He rode his luck until the final bell. But this is Saudi Arabia, and the fight wasn’t without controversy.
Jack needed a knockout with six minutes left and was afforded a four-minute round in the eighth to aid him in getting the job done.
A native of neighboring Dubai and a friend of the organizers, Jack seems to get preferential treatment from the officials.
In the end, Rivera was robbed by a split decision, which Jack embarrassing took in front of a bemused empty crowd.
Home favorite Ziyad Almaayouf won his pro debut in a total mismatch against Jose Alatorre. Despite both making their first outings in the paid ranks, they were worlds apart, and there was only ever going to be one result.
Inevitably the end came in the first round.
In the pre-main events floater, super-lightweight Bader Alsamreen defeated an overmatched Faud Tarverdi.
Ramla Ali
Ramla Ali may have been making history, but her opponent wasn’t worthy of lacing up a pair of gloves.
A complete mismatch ended with one punch in the first round.
Before the main card, Briton Ben Whittaker won a points decision over Petar Nosic to score the second win of his pro career.
Cards read 60-54 and 59-55 [twice] after six sessions.
Rashed Belhasa, aka Money Kicks, lost his pro debut via a decision against Traycho Georgiev. Despite never winning a fight as a pro, Georgiev had too much for the YouTuber – once linked to facing Floyd Mayweather.
Belhasa embarrassed himself and had no business being sanctioned to fight with his ability.
Andrew Tabiti, another fighter with Mayweather links, won a fifth-round stoppage after his opponent James Wilson failed to come out for the sixth.
Ukrainian light-heavyweight Daniel Lapin won every round of his fight with Josef Jurko.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
