New heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk claims he refused to knock Anthony Joshua out because his trainer had advised him not to, Sky Sports.
Usyk defeated the Brits to claim the IBF, WBA and WBC heavyweight title belts at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Saturday, 25 September, 2021.
The Ukrainian boxer had dominated the entire contest as he hurt Joshua in his left eye in the third round and almost knocked him out in the final round.
Usyk who became the third man to win heavyweight title coming from cruiserweight and light heavyweight divisions after Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis said after the fight:
“I had no objective to knock him out because my trainer, in my corner, pushed me not to do that. “But then my trainer said: ‘Just stop, and do your job’.”
The new IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight champion also said AJ did not pose much threat to him during the fight only on a few occasions.
He continued: “The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go. “There were a couple of moments where Anthony pushed me hard, but nothing special.”
