Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn feels the British-Nigerian is being too hard on himself regarding his performance in the title rematch against Oleksandr Usyk last August.
Hearn thinks that Joshua was in pole position to win the fight in the first nine rounds, before the Ukrainian took the fight to him in the last three and earned a split-decision victory over the Brit on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“I thought he performed very well against Usyk in the second fight. Still could’ve done more, but after nine rounds I think he’s winning the fight,” Hearn told Boxing ID.
“And then Usyk closes out unbelievably and was brilliant. But he felt it was a disaster, and I keep saying to him, ‘You did all right. You lost 115-113 to pound-for-pound No.1. Forget the first fight – tactics wrong. And you still could’ve done more.’”
The second fight between Ukrainian unified heavyweight champ Usyk and Joshua was slightly more competitive as the judges scored the first fight 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 for the Ukrainian.
The former two-time heavyweight champion is now scheduled to face American boxer Jermaine Franklin at the 02 Arena in London on April 1.
