Defending his three heavyweight titles, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua in a rematch on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
In the end, one judge scored the contest for Joshua, 115-113, but his decision was overruled by tallies of 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Usyk, who defeated Joshua for the second time in a row.
Joshua, who had entered the ring as champion when they met in September, fared better under new trainer Robert Garcia, but it was still not enough.
When the decision was announced, Joshua (24-3, 20 KOs) grabbed the microphone and urged the crowd to cheer for Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) with "Hip-Hip Hooray!"
With a second victory over Joshua, Usyk, 35, secured the WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight titles and is now on a collision course with Tyson Fury, who holds the WBC title.
ESPN's No. 2 heavyweight and No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer Usyk believes Tyson Fury hasn't retired yet. "I'm certain I'll not fight Tyson Fury if I don't fight him." He wants to fight me. I want to fight him.
There is no doubt that the proposed Usyk-Fury matchup, which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is eyeing for December, is one of the biggest in the history of boxing.
Earlier this month, Fury announced a comeback following his victory over Dillian Whyte in April. Fury reversed course and again insisted he was retired after talks with Derek Chisora stalled.
Fury said in a video posted on Instagram after Usyk's victory that he would annihilate both. "Get your f---ing checkbook out because 'The Gypsy King' is here to stay forever!"