Joshua vows to bounce back

Joshua suffered a shock defeat to Usyk

Anthony Joshua has vowed to bounce back following his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in their world heavyweight championship fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

The Briton was beaten via unanimous decision and he is now priced at 1213.00 to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year after relinquishing his WBA, WBO and IBF belts.

In adversity you've just got to learn to control yourself, stay on top of things.

Anthony Joshua

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It is just the second time that Joshua has been beaten during his professional career, having previously been stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, and the 31-year-old had to hang on during the latter stages of Saturday's fight after sustaining an eye injury in the ninth round.

Eye injury

Joshua conceded he could not see properly after sustaining the blow and he had no complaints about the outcome, but he has said he will learn from the experience and come back stronger

"I can't go back and sulk - that's wasting time," Joshua told reporters. "I couldn't see in the ninth round, couldn't see anything really because my eye was shut.

"It was a good experience because in adversity you've just got to learn to control yourself, stay on top of things, so when I couldn't see anything - it's the first time that it's happened in a fight."

Fury showdown now doubtful

Joshua's defeat has placed a potential all-British heavyweight showdown with Tyson Fury in doubt, with the latter's co-promoter, Frank Warren, admitting he now cannot see the fight taking place.

"I don't see it happening now," Warren told BBC Sport.

"If it did happen, what would Tyson have done to him? It wouldn't have gone 12 rounds. Tyson would have destroyed him. Absolutely. The unification fight was there, such a big fight. Heartbreaking."

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