The huge defeat suffered by Anthony Joshua yesterday is his fault, as experienced boxers such as myself, coaches, experts and pundits all predicted that to win, Joshua should stop Usyk in the early rounds, said Peter Oboh.

Oboh, ex-British and Commonwealth boxing champion, added that Joshua’s inability to do what was expected was down to the fact that he abandoned the keys that gave him success in his early years.

Oboh identified punch-for-punch ancient style or African style of boxing, and eating African heavy meals as the things Joshua abandoned that made him lost to Usyk.

Recall that Oleksandr Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua with scores of 117-112, 116-112, 115-113 to become the new unified world heavyweight champion.

Joshua was defending his three world titles for the second time since snatching them back from Andy Ruiz Jr two years ago.

He had been out the ring since stopping Kubrat Pulev last Christmas – and had been poised to fight fellow world champion Tyson Fury this summer.

However, for veteran pugilist-turned cleric, Oboh, Usyk did not win the fight, Joshua lost it.

He said: “Every sportsperson has a major key to success that is unique and different from others. Joshua abandoned his.

“You cannot change a Mohammed Alli to become a Mike Tyson or Tyson to be Foreman. Everyone has special keys.

“I think Joshua’s key is his old way of ancient and African style, which is ‘pursue fighting’ and punch-for-punch.

“Again, he has to go back to his old African diet too. He needs to eat fufu and add, this time, apku as well the eastern Nigeria Igbo foods that are rich in natural vitamins and other energy-giving nutrients.”

Vanguard News Nigeria