Anthony Joshua was left in hurt following his back-to-back loss on Saturday night to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
After the result was announced with only one judge favouring the Brit, Joshua almost left the arena immediately.
In an emotion-laden moment, he took hold of two belts, threw them down and left the ring.
He however returned afterwards and praised Usyk for being a phenomenal boxer.
“You’re not strong, how did you beat me? I had character and determination,” Joshua asked the Ukrainian.
Praising Usyk, Joshua said: “Usyk is one hell of a fighter. That’s just emotion.
“If you knew my story, you’d understand the passion. I’m not an amateur boxer. I was going to jail and I got bail and I started training. If I got sentenced, I wanted to be able to fight.
“It shows the passion we put into this. For this guy to beat me tonight, it shows the levels of hard work he must have put in so please give him a round of applause as heavyweight champion of world.
“They said that I’m not a 12-round fighter. I ain’t 14 stone, I’m 18 stone, I’m heavy. It’s hard work. This guy here is phenomenal.”
