Oleksandr Usyk accused Anthony Joshua of bullying his team in the wake of their twelve-round rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking during the aftermath, when Joshua embarrassed himself with a corny speech, Usyk made sensational claims against the Briton.
Oleksandr Usyk claims
“I feel nothing but respect for AJ. I saw him as a bit emotional and like bullying some of my teammates.
“That would be a bare-knuckle fight that I don’t recommend him to do because most of them are horrible street fighters,” stated the Pound for Pound king.
Usyk’s words will be yet another blemish on the squeaky-clean copybook played by Joshua and his team over the years. Despite the mask slipping, most fans prefer the new Joshua to stay.
Getting raw and taking over celebrations when Usyk had recently fought for his country are traits AJ has fought not to display.
Now that they are in the public domain, it will be interesting to see if Joshua maintains his alternative image.
After their first meeting, Joshua reacted differently from his usual self in that instance.
Rematch
Sergey Lapin, Usyk’s manager for the fight at Tottenham Stadium in London, revealed all to My Betting Sites.
“To be honest, in the fight with Usyk, I saw the best version of Joshua in years,” Lapin told the MyBettingSites Blog. “Joshua is strong-willed. He has character.
“All belts were at stake. AJ went all-in but lost. I don’t understand why most boxing skeptics say Joshua’s wrong strategy. And that was the explanation for Usyk’s victory.
“This victory was not just a lucky blow. As in the fight with Ruiz, it was a victory by all criteria.
“As for the immediate rematch, right after the end of the twelfth round, I heard Anthony say: “Hey, Alex, I know how to beat you. I want a rematch.”
“Now, he will try to take back his title. We are looking forward to a very cool rematch.”
Sadly for AJ, he didn’t know how to beat Usyk, nor did he have the tools. His reaction afterward was telling.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
