New heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk says he trained for half a year in other to defeat Anthony Joshua.
He said this in a post-match interview with Skysports, adding that the only thing he wanted to do with the fight against defeated Anthony Joshua was to give praise to Jesus Christ.
Usyk said, “This means a lot for me. The fight went the way I expected it to go. There were moments when Anthony pushed me hard but it was nothing special.
“I had no objective to knock him out because my corner pushed me not to do that. In the beginning, I tried to hit him hard, but then I stuck to my job.
“The only thing I wanted to do with this fight is to give praise to Jesus Christ.
“I have been working so hard since January in preparation for this fight, it took me half a year and I didn’t see my family for so long. I missed seeing them playing.
“I want to go home and be happy with my family and I’m not thinking about the rematch.”
At 34, Usyk is three years older than Joshua and he was also giving away three inches in height as well as nearly 20lbs (nine kilogrammes) in weight.
Usyk ended Anthony Joshua’s reign as world heavyweight champion with a stunning unanimous points decision victory on Saturday.
Joshua ended the 12th and final round of the contest backed up on the ropes, with the cheers of a crowd of more than 62,000 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium no match for the skills of his challenger.
The impressive Ukrainian triumphed 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 on the scorecards of the three judges in just the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion’s third bout as a heavyweight.
His victory, which extended Usyk’s perfect record as a professional to 19 wins from as many fights, saw him become just the third boxer after Evander Holyfield of the United States and Britain’s David Haye to win both the cruiserweight and heavyweight world titles.
Joshua, 31, whipped his loyal supporters into a frenzy during a protracted ring walk but did not get carried away himself during a cagey first round where he tried to establish his left jab.
Usyk, moving well, continued to prove a difficult target to hit during the second round and the southpaw staggered Joshua with a powerful roundhouse left-hand punch to the head in the third.
And his left continued to prove potent throughout a contest where a slimmed down Joshua did not appear to gain much resulting benefit in ring speed, while at the same time lacking power in his punches.
By the end of the tenth round, there was swelling under Joshua’s right eye.
Usyk landed the cleaner shots in the closing stages as he backed Joshua onto the ropes and appeared poised for a knockout when the final bell sounded.
