Dethroned heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, has said he has no regrets about his tactics in defeat to Oleksandr Usyk and vowed to dust himself off and go again.
Usyk won via unanimous decision with the judges’ scorecards showing 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
The Ukranian left the UK with Joshua’s WBA, IBF and WBO titles.
Joshua struggled to assert himself throughout as his opponent’s speed and movement from an awkward southpaw stance troubled him but his strategy in front of more than 66,000 fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium came in for criticism.
However, Joshua feels his approach is a moot point after the second loss of a 26-fight professional career, while his immediate thoughts have already turned to a clause invoking the rematch and the adjustments he can make.
“If it went well then it would have been perfect but it didn’t so I can’t really look at it and have any regrets,” said Joshua, who disclosed he was unable to see out of a swollen right eye from round nine onwards in north London.
“What I’m happy about is I can go again and I’ve got a chance of becoming heavyweight champion of the world again. Only positives from here moving forward, I’ve had enough of looking at things from a negative point of view.
“I’m not a weak person. I’m not a sulker. I’m not going to go home (and) cry about it because this is war. It’s a long process. This isn’t just one fight and I’m done, I’ve got an opportunity to go back to the drawing board.
“I can’t depend on anyone to pick me up and pat me on the back. That’s why I’m not going to put my head in my palms and cry all night about it. I just want to get back to the gym and get back on the grind so I can improve.
“I’m going to lift myself up. I believe I’ll get a good win in the next fight because of what I’ve learned in this fight. I’m a quick learner and we’ll bounce back.”
