THE LESSON

★★★★★OUTSTANDING ★★★★GOOD ★★★FAIR ★★DISAPPOINTING ★RUBBISH

TOTTENHAM

SEPTEMBER 25

SOME will call it an upset while others will say he was exposed. It was just a bad night at the office, say his team. But regardless of how one chooses to describe Anthony Joshua’s second professional defeat, the mesmerising effort of its orchestrator is the real story. Oleksandr Usyk, the winner, take a bow.

Usyk not only taught Joshua about the complexities of fighting at the highest of levels, he surely taught the sport a lesson, too. A simple lesson admittedly, but one that is frequently ignored. And it is this: The next time the sport is presented with a contest that the whole world wants to see, make it. Don’t wait, don’t dilly-dally, don’t get bogged down by belts, politics and greed.

But now, thanks to Usyk and his majestic victory, we can stop talking about Joshua-Tyson Fury. We can at last stop scratching our heads at the absurdity of it all because the Joshua-Fury we wanted, the all-conquering heavyweight fight that would pit the best against the best (as opposed to a diluted version in years to come), is surely gone forever. Good riddance, too. Instead, let’s champion the arrival of Usyk, someone who can show us all how it’s really supposed to be done.

In the process, we should not kick a man while he is down. Joshua, even in defeat, deserves plenty of credit for how far he has come. Credit, too, for accepting such a difficult assignment.