'FROM THE HEART'
‘I was just so upset’ – Anthony Joshua in tears in press conference as he explains bizarre ring meltdown after Usyk loss
ANTHONY JOSHUA broke down in tears in his post-match press conference as he discussed his meltdown following his loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua suffered a second successive defeat to Usyk via split decision at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Saudi Arabia last night.
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After the result was announced, AJ threw the Ukrainian star's belts out of the ring before appearing to storm off.
The British boxing star then decided to return to the squared circle to hijack the mic and deliver a bizarre speech to the crowd.
The 32-year-old got emotional in his press conference as he explained this was "from the heart" and came as a result of him being "mad" at himself.
Joshua said: “When you're trying to do things from the heart and everyone is just not understanding. It was just from the heart. I was mad at myself. Not anyone else just myself.
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“So I thought, I've got to get out of here because I'm mad. Like anyone, when you're angry, you might do stupid things.
"I was mad and then I realised, 'Oh s***, this is sport. Let me do the right thing and come back.'
“I just spoke from my heart. It's been so tough. You see AJ holding it together, yeah, and I'm a hustler so I try put things together. Try work hard and put things together and make sure my team's good.
“But it comes at a cost, a big cost. It'll never break me, but it takes real strength for it not to break me. And tonight, there's a little crack in the armour when I took a loss.
“And I think you just saw me just upset. And with the speech, I was just speaking about where I come from. I was on the roads, really.
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“And I made a transition to boxing that really changed my life and brought me closer to God and brought me closer to meeting so many people.
“And I just kind of laid it all on the line with my speech. But let's not forget the champ Oleksandr Usyk. He put on a phenomenal performance as well. So credit to him.
“I can't remember what I said in the ring because it was just so passionate. But I just want to say thank you to him for taking part in a great historical fight as well. It takes two to tango. I was just so upset."
Usyk tried to calm Joshua down in the ring during his post-match tantrum.
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But the 35-year-old insists he has "nothing but respect" for his opponent.
Usyk said: "I didn't feel much at this time when he was a bit frustrated. Just common emotions. It's all good. We just need to communicate a little bit.
“The good things that he said about me is something that I accept. But I don't accept it deep to my heart because I want to stay a humble person.
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“I don't want my pride inside me to go bigger. That's something like that. I don't believe in good words.
“I have nothing but respect for Anthony Joshua. I saw him a little bit emotional and I saw him pulling some of my team-mates and that looked like a bareknuckle fight."
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