Oleksander Usyk ended Anthony Joshua’s reign as world heavyweight champion in front of the Londoner’s home crowd with a stunning unanimous points decision victory on Saturday, scuppering hopes of a “Battle of Britain” unification bout with fellow world title-holder Tyson Fury.
Joshua ended the final round of the contest backed up on the ropes, with the cheers of a crowd of more than 66 000 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium no match for the skills of his challenger.
The impressive Ukrainian triumphed 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 on the scorecards of the three judges in the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion’s third bout as a heavyweight.
The victory extended his perfect record to 19 wins and saw him become just the third boxer after Evander Holyfield and David Haye to win both the cruiserweight and heavyweight world titles.
JULIAN GUYVER | [email protected]