It was so uncomfortable to watch as the fight that preceded it had been absorbing.
Anthony Joshua’s four-minute tirade after his split-decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah was met with derision from most.
It was simply an emotional outburst from a man who knew he had been beaten and whose world came crashing down around him in front of over 10,000 people at King Abdullah Sport City and millions of viewers around the world.
“You’re not strong, how did you hit me?” Joshua yelled in his opponent’s face almost enough after earlier dropping two of the belts he used to own out of the ring in disgust and nearly scuffling his opponent’s corner.
Anthony Joshua (right) firmly told Oleksandr Usyk that he was not strong. (Getty Images: Nick Potts/PA Images)
Then, disturbingly, he had the ring microphone in his hand.
Production workers were frantically gesturing from the ring apron, trying to find someone who could take it off him.
However, Joshua was allowed to ramble through a spilled tale of his personal life and the emotions he felt in an explosion of confused emotions.
Heartbreakingly, we watched one man’s dreams unravel in real time.
“If you knew my story, you would understand my passion,” he said.
“I’m not a damn amateur boxer aged five who was an elite contender…I would go to jail.
“The damn passion we put into this shit, man.
“That guy to beat me tonight maybe I could have done better but it shows how hard he must have worked.
“I’m not a 12-round fighter. Look at me. I’m the new generation of the heavyweight.
“‘You don’t throw combinations like Rocky Marciano,’ that’s because I don’t fucking have 14 stone. I’m 18 stone and I’m heavy.”
Anthony Joshua said he returned to the ring to do the right thing but in reality he stole the moment from Oleksandr Usyk.Getty Images: Khalid Alhaj/MB Media)
Joshua suddenly tried to justify his style, explain what he’d been through leading up to the fight and give credit to a man he couldn’t believe was any better than him.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Frazer Clarke told Sky Sports in the UK that Joshua’s team left him to dry and that someone should “save” him.
“For the people who were around him, where have you been?” said Clarke.
“Someone should have stepped in then, someone should have stopped him and saved him from himself.”
However, WBO Cruiserweight Champion Lawrence Okolie hit the nail on the head when he gave his opinion immediately after Clarke.
“We can only imagine the pressure he’s under to explode like that.”
In this almost unique gladiator sport — one of the most uncivilized activities known and still sanctioned as a form of entertainment — Joshua let out everything he’s felt since becoming a star as a gold medalist at his home Olympiads a decade ago.
Anthony Joshua was under a lot of pressure going into the fight. (Getty Images: Francois Nel)
The normally affable Brit has sometimes spoken of how a boxer needs to be “uncivilized” in fight week – there’s certainly no other way to prepare to brutalize anyone in front of you.
As the golden boy of British boxing, however, he has always had to display a facade of courtesy that, by all appearances, is as genuine as his talent in the ring.
Shortly after, Joshua sobbed during a press conference, saying, “It’s really, really hard for me to say I’m proud of myself.”
“I’m upset, really, deep down in my heart.”
After the adrenaline of the fight subsided and the reality of his circumstances took over, Joshua took to social media to explain himself.
“Yesterday I had to go to a dark place mentally to compete for the championship belts!” Joshua wrote on Twitter.
“I’ve had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions, and both defeated me.
“I’ll be the first to admit I let myself down.
“I acted out of pure passion and emotion and if it’s not controlled it’s not great.”
Mountainous pressure takes its toll
Anthony Joshua lost on two of the three judges’ scorecards. (Getty Images: Francois Nel)
As a result, those closest to Joshua were able to contextualize his reaction.
“He was devastated…if boxing is your absolute life, like it’s his life…unfortunately it’s the only thing in his life,” promoter Eddie Hearn told the ` after the fight.
“He lives in a bubble, he goes from home to Loughborough, lives in a small flat, can’t go for a coffee, can’t go to the shops, can’t go to the park… just working out and watching tapes.
“When something you love breaks down, it’s very hard to take and you’ve seen that.
“[It was] just emotion… AJ wasn’t himself.”
The thing is, a single focus with few opportunities to engage them outside of their sport is the reality for most top athletes.
An increasingly awkward crowd sat in on Joshua’s unplanned speech.(Getty Images: Khalid Alhaj/MB Media)
In an individual sport, one can often only look in the mirror to spot an individual’s mistakes — although, as we saw in team sports this week, the heightened emotional state of participants on the wrong side can result in a flogging as they hit out at authority figures a.
Whether it’s with a team or an individual, the emotional release that comes with every heartbreaking loss manifests itself in a variety of ways.
And at least at the highest level, it’s always in the public eye.
The angst faced by so many athletes as they struggle to come to terms with their respective failures hits us as forcefully as a Usyk uppercut several times a year.
It could be a skier at the Winter Olympics sobbing through the mix zone after failing to win a medal, or sitting distraught on the mountainside after messing up a slalom run.
It could even be a tennis player venting his frustration in front of a crowded center court after the momentum shifts.
The fact is, there’s nowhere to hide while the camera lights blaze and the witnesses make their judgments.
In the immediate minutes after Michael Buffer announced Usyk had won, Joshua congratulated his opponent and his corner, picked up two of the belts, dropped them out of the ring, and then briefly argued with Usyk’s team.
Then he hastily retreated to the dressing room – perhaps he should have moved on – but instead went back to his notorious imprudent monologue.
He did this out of a perhaps erroneous belief that he should “do the right thing,” he explained at the press conference.
“It was just from the heart. I knew I was mad at myself. Not at anyone, just at myself. I thought I had to get out of here because I’m mad,” he told the press at 4 a.m.
In his frustration, Anthony Joshua dropped two belts from the ring after failing to recover them.Getty Images: Nick Potts/PA Images)
“When you’re angry, you might do stupid things. Then I realized this is sport. I came back and did the right thing.”
History will show us that returning to the ring was far from right.
But if it weren’t for that speech, maybe we’d be talking about Joshua, the bad loser who started a fight with his opponent’s corner before throwing away his spoils of victory.
Instead, we’re left with the tormented heavyweight whose hopes have been dashed on the biggest stage and who questions his hard-earned legacy.
All signs point to Joshua not retiring – there’s a litany of fights for him in an increasingly interesting heavyweight class, both internationally against Deontay Wilder or Andy Ruiz Jr. and domestically against Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce, WBO (regular). Champion Daniel Dubois or maybe even Tyson Fury.
No matter who, we can be sure Joshua will be back because, last but not least, this outburst of emotion, far from a weakness, should actually be seen as a strength.
It shows that the fire is still burning as brightly now as ever.
Comments are closed.