Oleksandr Usyk targets Fury subsequent to beating Joshua

• Usyk beats Joshua on split choice after 12 rounds.
• Joshua responds with profound eruption.
  
• Ukrainian needs unification battle with Fury.
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Oleksandr Usyk turned his sights on rival heavyweight title holder Tyson Fury on Sunday subsequent to beating Britain’s Anthony Joshua.

On a split focuses choice to hold his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts in Jeddah.

The “Rage on the Red Sea” in Saudi Arabia was a rematch of a battle in London in September, which the Ukrainian won on a consistent choice to take Joshua’s belts, however with greater force and feeling.

The tension was on both previous Olympic bosses, with Usyk this time addressing a nation battling for its presence after a Russian intrusion while Joshua was doing combating for his boxing future.

Oleksandr Usyk showed up serenely ahead as the last chime rang at the King Abdullah Sports City Arena yet the American adjudicator shockingly granted the battle 115-113 to Joshua.

The British and Ukrainian judgesdecided 115-113 and 116-112 to Usyk.

The triumph required the 35-year-seasoned pro’s record to 20 battles undefeated while Joshua, 32, experienced a third loss in what could demonstrate a watershed in his vocation.

Joshua, who had held up high the Ukrainian banner with Usyk as they hung tight for the choice in what appeared to be an acknowledgment of rout, then had a strange implosion.

He took two of the belts, dropping them as he left the ring and set out toward the changing area prior to pivoting and venturing back between the ropes to take the amplifier and address the group.

“Usyk is one hell of a fighter. That’s just emotion,” declared the Briton.

“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 was studying Ukraine and all the champions from your amazing country. I’ve never been there. What’s happening there, I don’t know but it’s not nice … under those circumstances he’s managed to become champion.”

The initial round was speculative, with Joshua’s corner calling for him to change his mood, and the session went on with Usyk utilizing his poke and body shots to great impact.

Cycle eight was momentarily ended for towels to clean the elusive, sweat-doused material yet cycle nine raised the intensity once more, with Joshua partaking in his best before Usyk returned hard in the tenth.

Requiring a knockout and using up all available time, the taller and heavier Joshua couldn’t land the telling blows against a spry and tricky rival who hit back hard.

“In the ninth round I thought we had him,” said Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn. “The 10th round was one of the best rounds I’ve seen.

“What Usyk did in the 10th, the 11th and the 12th was incredible and that was the difference tonight because AJ didn’t start fast enough but he fought a much better fight.

“He hurt Usyk badly in the ninth and I felt like he was going to come on strong. But Usyk came out like a train.”

At the last chime the two embraced and the Ukrainian, who had entered the ring in a yellow and blue “Shades of Freedom” top while Joshua was dressed all in dark, dropped to his knees.

Usyk’s considerations then went to the following section and one more Briton to beat, despite the fact that WBC champion Fury has pronounced himself resigned.

“I am convinced he wants to fight me. I want to fight him. And if I’m not fighting Tyson Fury, I’m not fighting at all,” Usyk told the crowd through a ringside interpreter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed a “difficult but important and necessary victory.”

“Defending a world championship title is a symbol that whoever is from the Cossack tradition will not give up what is his, will fight for it and will win without any doubt,” he wrote on Facebook.

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