Oleksandr Usyk in the aftermath of fighting Anthony Joshua Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Approve Reject & ban Delete Logout

It was a really difficult fight for me - Oleksandr Usyk on his struggles after fighting Anthony Joshua

Oleksandr Usyk at Press Conference for Usyk/Anthony Joshua 2 - Images via Getty Images Last year, defeated via unanimous decision to win the unified heavyweight championship after only three heavyweight bouts in his professional career. The fight featured twelve rounds of highly skilled boxing. Many believed that Usyk blitzed the then-champion, however, the former cruiserweight thought otherwise. Joshua did land some shots in the matchup, whose effects the Ukrainian continued to feel even after the fight. According to , Usyk fell asleep while sitting up after his first meeting with the Brit. The Ukrainian said: “It was a really difficult fight for me. Everybody keeps saying it was an easy walk, but, no, it wasn’t. It was a hard fight for him and for me. After the fight I came back to the hotel and I took some food and I fall asleep sitting [up].” The rematch was close to not happening due to Usyk's home country being at war with Russia and he commented on the situation: “All I did was just pray. I did not want to leave Ukraine, but I visited my friends in the military and I visited them in the hospital. All of them were asking me to participate in this fight, to take the rematch and to fight for the whole country of Ukraine. Even my wife, I wanted to send her and my kids out of Ukraine, but she said she would not go. [She said,] ‘I would not go and that’s it.’” Watch Usyk vs. Joshua 1 here:

Will Anthony Joshua face the hardest version of Oleksandr Usyk in the rematch

History has proven that many new champions fail to retain their championship after winning it. This was shown also when first defeated Anthony Joshua and then looked to have not taken the rematch seriously enough. But Usyk is fighting for a bigger cause. With Ukraine at war, the former cruiserweight will likely come into the ring as the best version of himself. This ultimately means that Joshua might have an even more difficult fight on his hands than the first. Poll : 0 votes Quick Links More from Sportskeeda Thank You! Show More Comments No thanks Delete Cancel Update Reply ❮ ❯ No thanks Delete Cancel Update Reply ❮ ❯ Be the first one to comment on this story More from Sportskeeda Fetching more content... 1 Logout No Results Found