Conor McGregor has come to the defence of Anthony Joshua after the Brit bizarrely took to the microphone following his disappointing split decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
A disappointing night turned worse for Joshua after he fell short in his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk. The 32-year-old took to the opportunity to share his thoughts with those in attendance and the mass watching online after his match-up. Joshua referenced the ongoing conflict in Ukraine amongst other issues relating to his fight after originally throwing two belts to the ground and leaving the ring.
Spectators were left with a sour taste in their mouths following Joshua’s actions however former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has defended his actions following his disappointing outing. McGregor even went on to credit Joshua for the ‘great speech’ he delivered post-fight.
“You are all going on ridiculous over this. That is a great speech right there. Fair play to him he made it yet he is still in there keeping that cog going. If they wanted the mic they could’ve tried get it back. Then he gives me a shout out. Great fight, thank you! #champchamp”
Usyk along with those in attendance were caught off-guard by Joshua’s comments having initially embraced following the pair’s 12-round battle.
Anthony Joshua reflects on the disappointing defeat to Oleksandr Usyk
Following on from this having had time to collect his thoughts and process what would have been a difficult night for him Anthony Joshua took to his social media to update his following on his status.
“I wish @usykaa continued success in your quest for greatness. You are a class act champ.
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.”
In a follow-up post, Anthony Joshua would reflect upon his post-fight statements.
“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”
Joshua is expected to take some time away from the sport to recover but is expected to return in the future after some speculated this may be time to call a curtain on the former champion’s career.
Similar to Joshua, McGregor is expected to make his return to the octagon next year having not stepped inside the cage since his loss to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy match at UFC 264.
What did you make of Anthony Joshua’s comments? Do you agree with Conor McGregor?