The Englishman lost on a split decision as Usyk defended his heavyweight titles, beating Joshua for a second time.

Joshua threw two of Usyk’s belts on the floor at the end of the fight following the result and headed for his changing room before storming back to the ring to shake Usyk’s hand.

He then picked up the microphone and went on an expletive-filled rant, discussing the fight, his career, leading cheers to Usyk, and discussed the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

Joshua’s emotions were clearly running high following the loss after twelve rounds of stunning boxing, and he returned to the ring to address the crowd in Jeddah.

The Englishman began by referencing his youth and troubles with police as he reflected on his career following the devastating defeat and applauded his competitor.

“If you knew my story you would understand the passion. I ain’t no amateur boxer from five years old that was an elite prospect from youth.

“I was going to jail, I got bail and I started training my arse off, I wanted to be able to fight.

“I’m stealing this Usyk I’m sorry, but it’s because of the passion we put into this. This guy to beat me tonight, maybe I could have done better, but it shows the level of hard work I put in so please give him a round of applause as our heavyweight champion of the world.’

Joshua pushed Usyk all the way and produced a largely more impressive performance in his first fight at Tottenham Hotspur stadium last year but couldn’t find a way past his Ukrainian counterpart.

The former champion insisted he was a ‘new breed of heavyweight’ in the aftermath of defeat as he labelled Usyk as a ‘phenomenal talent’.

“I’m not a 12 round fighter, look at me, I’m a new breed of heavyweights, Mike Tyson, Sonny Liston, Jack Dempsey, ‘you don’t throw combinations like Rocky Marciano’, I’m 18 stone, I’m heavy, it’s hard work.

“This guy here is a phenomenal talent, we’re going to cheer for him three times.”

The fight is expected to take place in March next year with Hearn claiming that the rematch will take place in Britain despite Usyk’s intentions to defend his newly won titles in Ukraine.

Last month Joshua was beaten by the decision as he faced Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and lost his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts in the process.

Hearn told DAZN: ‘Today we officially triggered the rematch for Oleksandr Usyk fight, which we’ll see early next spring. Back in the game and we’re looking for him to become a three-time world champion. A few niggles in camp for AJ, Usyk had a bad cut, it’s officially triggered, we’ll sit down with K2 Promotions and I think March is when you’ll see that fight. This was a disappointing loss to a pound-for-pound great. We don’t need to get back in the game with 10-rounders, he needs to rip those belts off Usyk. Usyk has mentioned Kiev in his home country Ukraine as a potential venue and we will look at all options. When AJ heard about that he didn’t have an issue with it and found it quite exciting. I would like to do it back in the UK and we’ve had offers from the Middle East but we will see what’s the best opportunity for both fighters. I don’t think the venue makes much difference in how AJ has to fight”

Joshua suffered a shock unanimous points defeat to Usyk, losing his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO to the Ukrainian. It was also Joshua’s second defeat in four clashes inside the ring.

Ruiz, who beat Joshua in June 2019 before the Briton bounced back by winning their rematch six months later, claimed that AJ was scared and holding back a bit in Oleksandr Usyk defeat

Ruiz told FightHype.com “I thought Anthony was going to be the stronger man, I thought he was going to box him around with his abilities, you know. He just kind of stayed there. I don’t know why he wasn’t moving around, like in the second fight with me. He ran around and made sure he didn’t get hit, and if he did, he would grab and move around. So he had his strategy. But for this fight, it didn’t go his way.  It was probably the wrong strategy. He probably underestimated him. Kind of like how I did with Chris Arreola. I think Anthony Joshua is still there, still strong. I kind of felt he was scared and holding back a little bit. Maybe it was the lefty style of Usyk and how he moves.’

Joshua is expected to take on Usyk in a rematch next year in a bid to win his world heavyweight titles back for a second time.

The Ukrainian visited Joshua in his changing room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium shortly after the fight to give him back the belts after he had posed with them in the ring.

According to reports, Usyk will be sent a new set of belts after claiming the four titles with a dominant display in north London in his second bout in the heavyweight division.

His team director Sergey Lapin captured the moment Usyk returned the belts to Joshia.

Joshua said of their interaction: “In the changing room I said to him I’ll see you again and I’m looking forward to it.”

Usyk outclassed Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, with all three judges awarding him the fight by scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113. He is now undefeated in 19 professional fights, picking up his third win in the heavyweight division.

This comes shortly after Oleksandr Usyk emerged as the new heavyweight world champion after securing victory over Anthony Joshua in London, the United Kingdom on Saturday night, September 25.

In the fight, the three judges scored the bout all in Usyk’s favour 117-112, 116-112, 115-113

Hearn said “He will want to go back in that rematch, and he will be the underdog in that fight but he has just been beaten by a pound-for-pound great. Joshua lives and breathes boxing, he is already talking about training again and he will be in the gym and ready to get back in again. You can criticise Anthony Joshua, but he has just fought a great and he is fighting the very best, and tonight he came off second best. There is a new unified heavyweight world champion, but there is no point sulking about it and he must go back to the drawing board and rebuild. We will have enough time, the fighter in AJ says he will win the rematch but I had it close before Usyk ran away with it at the end.  But he has to make changes and impose his style to win the rematch, or he will lose again”

Joshua lost to the undefeated Ukrainian Usyk after a scintillating display.

Usyk who is a southpaw fighter, landed headshots throughout the contest with his shots causing Joshua’s right eye to swell after the 10th round.

By the end of the 12th round, Joshua was barely standing and had to be saved by the time bell.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn (pictured below) said his fighter may have suffered a broken eye socket.

Hearn said “When he lost in New York everyone started analysing the dressing room, the ring walk. He was fine, he was maybe a little too relaxed on the ring walk, he was shaking everyone’s hand, he was hugging a few people that is just AJ but I feel it was the wrong type of performance. Sometimes you have to use your attributes. Joshua never really got going, he will go to the hospital now, I don’t know if he has broken his eye socket, it doesn’t look great”

Joshua now has 30 days to activate a  rematch clause which will most likely take place in Usyk’s home.

The Ukrainian put on a masterclass in front of 65,000 fans despite being three inches shorter than Joshua as well as nearly 20lbs lighter than Joshua in weight.

After outthinking and outboxing Joshua over 12 rounds, has now warmed he could be more dangerous as Joshua ponders over the next 30 days whether to rematch the Ukrainian.

He said: ‘The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go. There were a couple of moments when Anthony pushed me hard, but nothing special. I had no objective to knock him out because my trainers pushed me not to do that. In the beginning, I hit him hard and tried to knock him out but my trainers said to stop and just do my job. The only thing I wanted to do with this fight was to give praise to my Lord, Jesus Christ and say all comes from him. Today, 12 years ago, my wife said to me yes, today I am double happy.’

Usyk beat Joshua 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 and became only the third fighter after Evander Holyfield and David Haye to win world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight.

This is the second defeat of Joshua’s career while Usyk is undefeated.