Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn has revealed that the former heavy weight champions was winning against Oleksandr Usyk on the scorecard until the end of round eight.
The Nigerian pugilist lost via unanimous decision with scores of 117-112, 116-112, 115-113 at the Tottenham Stadium on Saturday, relinquishing his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight belts afterwards.
Usyk, the WBO mandatory challenger, became the third boxer after Evander Holyfield and David Haye to win world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight.
Hearn, who was privy to the official scorecards on the night, told TalkSPORTS that Joshua lost the fight in the championship rounds.
โI was just looking at the scorecards then,โ Hearn told the media after the fight. โHe was winning the fight through eight rounds.
โThen he lost every round; nine, ten, eleven, twelve โ on every scorecard. That was what swung the scorecards, but they are the championship rounds.
โThatโs where Usyk came strong, thatโs what he did where he did wear down his opponent โ probably mentally as well.
โHe won those key championship rounds.โ
Meanwhile, Hearn had revealed that Joshua will activate a rematch clause in the contract as he bids to reclaim his belts.
