Anthony Joshua: I let myself down with behaviour after defeat by Oleksandr Usyk

Anthony Joshua has acknowledged he let himself down with his erratic behaviour in the immediate aftermath of his thrilling defeat by Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia, saying he acted “out of pure passion and emotion”.

Upon conceding a split decision in the fight in Jeddah, a furious Joshua stalked towards the changing room before returning to the ring, grabbing Usyk’s WBA and Ring Magazine belts and dropping them outside the ropes.

The 32-year-old then confronted Usyk, saying, ‘you’re not strong, how did you beat me? How? I had character and determination’, before addressing the crowd with a confused rant about his past and his own shortcomings as a boxer.

Taking to Twitter on Sunday evening, Joshua posted: “I wish @usykaa continued success in your quest for greatness. You are a class act champ.

“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.

“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 so much and I’ll be better from this point on. Respect.”

Carl Froch had accused Joshua of stealing Usyk’s moment while his gym mate and sparring partner Frazer Clarke said he should have been “saved from himself” by his team, who “hung him out to dry”.

“Am I proud of myself? It’s really, really hard for me to say I’m proud of myself. I don’t feel anything… just… I’m upset. Deep down in my heart. Ah man… ah. Trust me. F****** hell man,” he said.

Once he had regained composure, he attempted to explain actions that have drawn heavy criticism.

“It was just from the heart. I was mad at myself. Not at anyone, just at myself. I’ve gotta get out of here because I’m mad,” Joshua said.

“It’s been so tough. You see AJ holding it together. I’m a hustler so I try and put things together. But it comes at a cost, a big cost. It will never break me, but it takes real strength not to break me.

“And this was a little crack in the armour because I took a loss. With the speech I was just speaking about where I had come from. I was on the road… really.

“I made a transition through boxing, which helped me change my life. Bringing me closer to God and meeting so many amazing people. I just laid it all on the line with my speech.

Joshua was transformed from the fighter who surrendered the WBA, IBF and WBO belts to Usyk in London last September, but was still outpointed 113-115, 115-113, 116-112 by the Ukrainian southpaw.

Usyk’s movement, hand speed, ring craft and work rate underpinned an impressive victory, which came after he served as a military volunteer in Kiev following Russia’s invasion of his homeland.

“What you saw was raw emotion. A real person who was feeling the pressure and who wanted to win so badly,” said promoter Eddie Hearn as he addressed the negativity that has stalked Joshua’s career.

“You live in an online world where it’s opinion, stick, abuse. He will never tell you that he sees that pressure or feels it, but it’s impossible not to.

“I just want AJ to be happy. He’s given his whole life since he started boxing and people don’t realise what a bubble it is.

“Everybody in the country knows who he is. Everyone has got an opinion on who he is. He’s in the gym all the time with his team.

“There isn’t anyone I know who is more dedicated to the sport than him and sometimes people don’t understand the pressures that are on people’s shoulder. But he’s never ducked a challenge.

“You see these complete d********, many of them on social media, they’ve got too much to say for themselves.

“They want to pretend they are good people when AJ is someone I want my kids to look up to. That responsibility is a huge burden and AJ’s always felt it.”