Home

Boxing

Injury Report: Did Anthony Joshua Hurt His Eye During His Fight With Oleksandr Usyk?

Published 09/27/2021, 8:00 AM EDT

Follow Us

via Reuters

Anthony Joshua is at a very crucial stage of his career after losing the heavyweight titles to Oleksandr Usyk in a 12-round war at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 25. The defeat has injected a massive dent in his career, with a legitimate medical setback falling under the same bracket.

Standing on the wrong end of a lopsided beat down, Joshua has suffered a severe eye injury and has been taken to the hospital right after his fight. It is also rumored, Anthony Joshua might have fractured his eye socket. The exact extent of the damage isn’t clear. But there’s no doubt; Joshua has suffered some serious damage.

Brit promoter, Eddie Hearn, has shed views on the whole scenario, addressing what could have happened to ‘AJ’ in his recent clash against Usyk. No wonder the Matchroom Kingpin isn’t really happy with the results.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Eddie Hearn said, “He will go to hospital. I don’t know if he has broken his eye socket, it doesn’t look great. He said he couldn’t see after the ninth round, obviously he was getting tagged a lot as well.” His power looked like it had left him, the tank was empty and it was only heart which kept him on his feet in the 12th round.” (H/T: The Sun)

Despite the setback, Joshua has already expressed an interest in re-matching Usyk for his lost heavyweight straps. Hence, we can see the British star in action shortly, once he regains himself at 100%. However, the current situation reflects Anthony Joshua under extreme pressure.

Amid the medical complexities, there’s a lot of criticism, trying to tear down his status as a top-tier entity. Thus, Joshua will have to overcome all his detractors before re-entering the squared circle.

Who Is Oleksandr Usyk’s Wife Yekaterina Usyk?

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

What exactly happened to Anthony Joshua?

Several people had demeaned Usyk’s ability to hurt his opponents as a heavyweight boxer. But the Ukrainian star poleaxed Joshua for a brief period. He planted sharp jabs right from the beginning, which paid dividends in the later stage. It shook Anthony Joshua and several of his loyalists were stunned as Usyk turned in one of his best in-ring showcases.

via Reuters

The swelling under Joshua’s right eye was prominent, and it was hard for him to continue like that. But ‘AJ’ kept on fighting till the final bell and didn’t let his opponent stop him. It didn’t turn very fruitful as the judges awarded the win to Usyk via unanimous decision. As for now, Joshua needs to reset and curate an active plan to secure a lucrative fight booking in the next go-around.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest Boxing stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

Watch This Story: 7 Things Anthony Joshua Can’t Live Without

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Raj Sarkar

3,299Articles

One take at a time

A senior boxing writer at EssentiallySports, Raj Sarkar is a mass media graduate who is currently pursuing his master’s degree in broadcast journalism. In addition to his current role, he has worked with the MMA team at EssentiallySports and has interviewed prominent fighters such as Ritu Phogat and 'The Red King' Rory MacDonald. He combined his bachelor's degree with his adoration for combat sports and has a combined 2000 plus bylines in MMA and boxing over the last two years.
Show More>