Anthony Joshua explodes in tunnel altercation after Usyk loss – ‘Shut your f***ing mouth’

Anthony Joshua was involved in a heated altercation in the tunnel on the way back to his dressing room after losing to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia. Joshua was aiming to reclaim his WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles in their rematch but lost via split decision to the Ukrainian, having first been stripped of his belts last September.

Joshua was visibly angry post-fight and was filmed picking up two of Usyk’s belts and dropping them out of the ring. He stormed out of the ring before turning around and getting back in. Cameras caught him having a feisty one-to-one chat with Usyk before stealing the microphone to give a passionate speech in which he celebrated his victorious opponent.

The Briton has seen his hopes of becoming the first undisputed heavyweight since 2000 go up in smoke and appeared to struggle to come to terms with that reality. He has been widely criticised for taking the attention away from Usyk, who was the deserving victor even though one judge scored it 115-113 to AJ.

And it was not just in the ring where Joshua allowed his emotions to get the better of him. Footage from YouTube channel iFL TV shows that AJ also lost his cool in the tunnel when an onlooker told him to “keep it professional”.

Joshua was filmed walking towards his dressing room at King Abdullah Sport City in Jeddah when a voice was heard telling him to remain professional. He did not take well to the advice, however, turning around with an angry expression and shouting: “What?! Who you talking to? Who you talking to?”

The 32-year-old appeared to add: “Shut your f***ing mouth.” Joshua was then quickly ushered away by his team before he could confront the individual and continued to mutter while walking away: “Are you mad?”

“I’m telling you for this guy to beat me tonight, maybe I could have done better but it shows the levels of hard work he must have put in. So, please give him a round of applause as our heavyweight champion of the world. I’m not a twelve-round fighter, look at me. I’m the new breed of heavyweights, all those heavyweights, Mike Tyson, Sonny Liston, Jack Dempsey, because I ain’t 14 stone that’s why. I’m 18 stone, I’m heavy it’s hard work.

“This guy here is a phenomenal talent, we’re gonna cheer for him three times. How many belts you got now bro? five? And as I was saying, I was studying Ukraine and all the champions that come from your amazing country bro.

“I’ve never been there but at the same time what’s happening there is… I don’t know what’s happening there but it’s not nice. Usyk please raise your hand, under those circumstances you became a champion.”

His promoter Eddie Hearn reacted: “You saw the reaction from AJ, and that was from a human who wanted to win so badly with so much pressure on his shoulders. I think he just exploded because he lost and he was devastated, and he’s given everything to try and win this fight. He couldn’t win the fight, he’s a competitor, he’s a winner but this man’s [Usyk’s] too good.”