Anthony Joshua has shown remorse for his weird behaviour which followed his world heavyweight title defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
The Nigerian-Briton put up an improved display compared to his first loss to the Ukrainian last September, but still came up short on Saturday night, losing via a split decision.
Shortly after Usyk was declared the winner of the rematch for the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organisation and World Boxing Association heavyweight titles, Joshua threw down two of the belts and went on a foul-mouthed rant after seizing the microphone.
He later apologised that same night, but took to social media yesterday to give what looked like a heartfelt apology for his unusual act.
“I wish Usyk continued success in your quest for greatness. You are a class act champ,” Joshua, 32, wrote on Twitter.
“Yesterday I had to mentally take myself into a dark place to compete for the championship belts! I had two fights, one with Usyk and one with my emotions and both got the better of me.
“I’ll be the first to admit, I let myself down. I acted out of pure passion and emotion and when not controlled it ain’t great.
“I love this sport so so much and I’ll be better from this point on. Respect.”
Usyk himself took no offence after Joshua’s outburst, saying: “I feel nothing but respect to AJ.
“I saw him a bit emotional and like bullying some of my teammates. That would be a bare-knuckle fight that I don’t recommend him to do because most of them are horrible street fighters.”
The second loss to 35-year-old Usyk is the third in Joshua’s professional career, in which he has won 24 (22 by knockout).
