A Sad Sunday for Nigerians as their favourite fighters, Usman Kamaru and Anthony Joshua were defeated early Sunday morning in their respective Title bout.
Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight boxing titles after defeating Anthony Joshua on points in a rematch fight in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua better performance could not save him from Usyk defeat. His improved performance from their first bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September but Usyk still proved to be too much for him across the 12 rounds, retaining his IBF, WBO, and WBA (Super) heavyweight belts, as well as picking up the Ring magazine title vacated by Tyson Fury, with a split-decision victory.
Meanwhile, One judge scored the fight 115-113 in AJ’s favour, but the second had the same score to Usyk with the third making it 116-112 to the world champion.
Joshua came out of the blocks with more intensity than 11 months ago, with neither man backing down in a thrilling rematch.
The Ukrainian will now attempt to coax Fury out of retirement for a lucrative showdown to become the first undisputed champion of boxing’s blue-riband division since the great Lennox Lewis.
Also in the same vein, Leon Edwards stops Nigeria’s Usman Kamaru late in 5th round to win the UFC welterweight title
Leon Edwards dropped Kamaru Usman with a kick to the head and neck in the final minute of the fifth round to win the welterweight championship at UFC 278 early Sunday morning
Usman appeared to be seconds away from a 16th consecutive victory, which would have tied an all-time UFC record, before Edwards came up with the stunning finish just in time.
Edwards (20-3) is undefeated dating back to his previous bout with Usman in 2015. The British fighter rose to No. 2 in the welterweight division while accumulating nine wins in that stretch ahead of the title bout.
Usman (20-2) lived up to his reputation as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world for much of the bout. The Nigerian weathered a late first-round takedown and turned the tables with a late second-round takedown. Usman controlled position throughout the third round, earning two more takedowns. Usman appeared on his way to a win by unanimous decision before Edwards rallied in the final round.