Vitali Klitschko Praises Oleksandr Usyk After Dethroning Anthony Joshua

Vitali Klitschko has heaped some massive praise on Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk had the performance of his life against Anthony Joshua. The former undisputed cruiserweight champion displayed top-notch boxing skills and movement to take the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO Heavyweight Titles from Joshua. Usyk won the fight via unanimous decision.

Vitali Klitschko was in attendance to show support for Usyk. Both Klitschko and Usyk are Ukranian. During a post-fight interview, Klitschko, who once ruled as a heavyweight world champion, gave props to Usyk (h/t BoxingScene.com).

“It was an excellent fight. Very clever [performance]. I’m very happy. Oleksandr did a perfect job.

“Everybody is happy. [Usyk is] second [in Ukraine] after Wladimir Klitschko to [become unified heavyweight champion].”

Usyk has now improved his perfect professional boxing record to 19-0. Joshua will likely exercise his rematch clause to face Usyk again at some point.

After the fight, Usyk said that everything went according to plan (via ESPN).

“The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go,” Usyk said. “There was times when Anthony pushed me hard but nothing special. I had no objective to knock him out. My corner pushed me not to do that. You didn’t see the best Usyk. I can be much better.”

In his post-fight interview, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn admitted that the Joshua defeat is a tough pill to swallow.

“A devastating defeat,” Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn said. “Usyk is very fit, he’s got great feet, he threw a lot of punches. It was a tough defeat. [Joshua] got beat by the better man on the night.

“He will want to go straight back into the rematch. The desire is still there. He can do so much better in that fight.”

Time will tell when Joshua will have his rematch with Usyk. One thing’s for sure, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Usyk vs. Joshua 2 is next.