Oleksandr Usyk retained his three heavyweight titles with a split-decision victory over Anthony Joshua in a rematch on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

One judge scored the bout for Joshua, 115-113, but was overruled by tallies of 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Usyk, who defeated Joshua for a second time.

Joshua, who entered the ring as champion when the two met in September in London, fared far better in the return bout under the guidance of new trainer Robert Garcia, but it still wasn’t enough.

After the decision was announced, Joshua (24-3, 20 KOs) grabbed the microphone and urged the crowd to cheer on Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) with “Hip-Hip Hooray!”

source espn.com

feature image credit screenshot from DAZN Boxing YouTube channel