Oleksandr Usyk says he could have knocked out Anthony Joshua in any of their fights, but he explains why.

OLEKSANDR USYK has revealed he opted NOT to knock out Anthony Joshua in their back-to-back fights.

The pound-or-pound king claimed and defended the unified heavyweight titles against AJ in their Tottenham tussle in September 2021 and their Saudi showdown last August.

Undefeated Ukrainian Usyk hurt Joshua in the 12th round of their first clash and did so again in the tenth of their rematch – although he decided against shutting the Brit’s lights out.

When asked why he didn’t go in for the kill, the slick southpaw asked: “Why are you so bloodthirsty?

“There is victory, everything is fine. Why is it necessary for a person to fall?”

Usyk, 36, didn’t want to put Joshua on the canvas in front of his loved ones – in particular his mum and dad.

He continued: “He has a mother and father. This is a big chunk of health if a person falls. I’m not for that.”

Victory in his rematch with Joshua set Uysk up for a blockbuster undisputed heavyweight title fight with Tyson Fury.

But the mouthwatering showdown collapsed last month after Team Usyk got tired of Fury moving goalposts after agreeing to a 70-30 split in favour of The Gypsy King.

Usyk said: “I see that nothing is going on, he is trying to play us, and I said, ‘That’s all, bye.’

“He says, ’70/30, I am the king. It’s all thanks to me.’

“I don’t respond to that. I understand that this is a mental game.

“The king is the king. And the king does not need to shout that he is the king.

He added: “He is trying very hard to copy the great Muhammad Ali, but the copy is very bad.”

Usyk is now on course to lock horns with the mandatory challenger for his WBA heavyweight title – Daniel Dubois – in the summer.

He said of the fight: “I will go to Britain, I love it very much. My first big achievements were in Britain.

“Then Anthony Joshua. I like this place, I like the fans, the people.”