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Usyk stuns Joshua to claim WBA, WBO, IBF heavyweight belts

Julian Finney / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Oleksandr Usyk captured the WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight world titles with a unanimous-decision victory (117-112, 116-112, 115-113) over Anthony Joshua on Saturday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Usyk joins Evander Holyfield and David Haye as the only boxers to win world titles at both cruiserweight and heavyweight. Meanwhile, Joshua suffered only the second loss of his professional career.

Usyk took control of the fight early with his speed and movement. Joshua responded in the middle rounds, but the Ukrainian poured it on in the final stages of the bout.

Usyk landed 25 more punches than Joshua and connected at a 28% rate, according to CompuBox. He landed 148 punches, the most ever by a Joshua opponent.

"The fight went exactly the way I expected it to go," Usyk said after the fight, according to ESPN's Nick Parkinson. "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."

A win by Joshua would've likely set up a showdown against Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder. He can exercise his immediate rematch clause for a chance to reclaim his heavyweight belts from Usyk.

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