Oleksandr Usyk scored a historic upset over Anthony Joshua on Saturday, not only wresting his WBA (super), IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles away from him, but also becoming only the third boxer in history to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion and then go on to win a heavyweight title.
Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) boxed circles around the former champ (24-2, 22 KOs), winning a unanimous decision victory over the Brit on his home turf in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The judges’ cards read 117-112, 116-112, 115-113, all in favor of the fighter from Ukraine.
MORE: Usyk stuns Joshua with unanimous decision to become unified heavyweight champion
Although Usyk faced a significant size disadvantage against Joshua, he managed to throw several combinations against him while avoiding his opponent’s powerful punches to secure the victory. So overwhelming was the upset that many observers, including several world-class boxers, could only respond in astonishment at what they’d seen.
Roy Jones Jr., who called the fight, put it this way: “Usyk didn’t beat (Joshua). He dominated him”
Below are some of the best reactions to Usyk’s incredible upset of Joshua:
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. @usykaa showed his pedigree in the ring tonight. Amateur Champion. Olympic Gold medalist. Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion and now World Heavyweight champion. It pays to take the long road, put in the hard work and aggressively go after your goals. #JoshuaUsyk
— Lennox Lewis, CBE, CM (@LennoxLewis) September 25, 2021
Gotta give it up to @usykaa on a great tactical performance tonight. For @anthonyjoshua it’s not the end of the road, but u can’t be so tentative or wait till the 8th round to turn it on. Learn from this and improve. #JoshuaUsyk
— Lennox Lewis, CBE, CM (@LennoxLewis) September 25, 2021
Every one of Usyk’s fights have come on the road. Every one. He is by far the best road warrior in #boxing and it’s not close. #JoshuaUsyk
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) September 25, 2021
MORE: What’s next for Anthony Joshua? Who will he fight next?
🌍👑 Oleksandr Usyk has beaten:
🇵🇱 Krzysztof Glowacki in Poland
🇺🇸 Michael Hunter in America
🇩🇪 Marco Huck in Germany
🇱🇻 Mairis Briedis in Latvia
🇷🇺 Murat Gassiev in Russia
🇬🇧 Tony Bellew in the UK
🇬🇧 Dereck Chisora in the UK
🇬🇧 Anthony Joshua in the UK pic.twitter.com/icO3h9H4cM— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 25, 2021
Congratulations to Usyk, he did what I had predicted he would, winning the Heavyweight Title as Holyfield did after being Cruiser Wt. Champion. And also Congratulations to the judges, you didn’t screw it up! #JoshuaUsyk #joshuavsusyk
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) September 25, 2021
Usyk fought on his wedding anniversary, that man wasn’t losing today.
— Ole Gunnar Scamskjær (@Nigerianscamsss) September 25, 2021
It’s been pretty obvious for a while that Fury would box circles around Joshua. Usyk doesn’t have the size but he definitely has the skill to make any unification fight more interesting
— Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) September 25, 2021
