Every country needs a hero and at a time where Ukraine is experiencing some of the worst atrocities since its independence back in 1991, Oleksandr Usyk once again brought some light to a nation in need.

The night started off how it would ultimately end for Ukraine with light-heavyweight prospect Daniel Lapin taking his record to 6-0 with a comfortable points win over Jozef Jurko. There were also wins for Ben Whittaker, Ziyad Almaayouf and Andrew Tabiti on the undercard with Ramla Ali securing a devastating first-round knockout win over Crystal Nova in the first ever professional boxing fight to be contested between two women in Saudi Arabia.

Badou Jack kicked off the main card in style with a hard-fought victory over Richard Rivera before Callum Smith once again showed he’s got the makings of a future light-heavyweight world champion with a highlight reel fourth-round knockout of Mathieu Bauderlique. The unbeaten and highly rated Filip Hrgovic had to overcome a first-round knockdown to edge out the previously unbeaten Zhilei Xhang on points before it was time for the main event, Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua.

With plenty of speculation in the build up to the fight centering around Usyk’s weight, the Ukrainian seemingly surprised the majority of people by weighing in just slightly heavier than he did for the first fight with Joshua doing similar.

The fight started as many expected. Usyk was his usual busy self, floating in and out of range, pivoting off both ways whilst Joshua looked to use his superior size difference to cut the ring off. To Joshua’s credit, he looked far more comfortable in the earlier rounds in this fight than he did in the first fight between the pair. He didn’t seem as phased, he wasn’t rushing his work as much and when he did throw shots, he was throwing them with confidence and not just for the sake of it.

Usyk had success with his jab in the opening stages as he always does and Joshua, as predicted, looked to nullify his movement with success to the body which became more effective as the rounds went on. The reigning champion was in control with the fight firmly being fought at his pace but in round nine, Joshua made a breakthrough.

After landing two powerful hooks to the head and switching down to the body, Joshua had Usyk hurt and for the first time in the fight, the former champion was letting his hands go and he was backing Usyk up that much that at one point, it looked as though he may be able to get the stoppage. However the bell for the end of the round rang just in time for Usyk.

Was this a turning point? Had the momentum of the fight shifted?

Unfortunately for Joshua, that was very much not the case. Like the champion he is, Usyk came out in round 10 and imposed himself back on the fight. AJ had quite clearly exerted a lot of energy in the ninth and Usyk was more than aware of that. He was now landing at will and occasionally making Joshua chase shadows as he once again implemented his superior footwork and ring IQ which has gotten him so far in his boxing career.

Round 11 was very much the same and then with Joshua knowing he needed a knockout or at least a couple of knockdowns in round 12, he bit down on the gumshield like the true fighter he is and let his hands go but Usyk just had too much left in the tank and boxed clever to take the last round.

The result was read out and it was a split-decision victory to the reigning champ, which didn’t really tell the whole story of the fight but ultimately the right man had his hand raised.

What's next for both fighters then?

For Usyk, it’s Tyson Fury or no one which he pretty much confirmed in his post fight interviews. Despite Fury’s retirement last week, it is expected that a fight will be made down the line between the pair so we can finally find out who is the greatest heavyweight of this era.

As for Joshua, promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that he would like him to be out around December time. It’s unlikely that will be against an elite level opponent with the likes of Otto Wallin, Jerry Forrest or Zhilei Zhang likely to be in the mix before he looks at a potential rematch with Dillian Whyte, a blockbuster showdown with Deontay Wilder or even a crack at the winner of Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker in the new year.

If AJ was to fight and beat the winner of Joyce vs Parker and Fury was to beat Usyk, it would be a fairly quick way to get Joshua back into not only world title contention again but into unification contention within a year of his second defeat to Usyk.

As with boxing though, there’s a lot of things that need to happen behind the scenes to make any of the above happen for either fighter and as for whether any of those things will then we will just have to wait and see.

However, what we do know is, there are two undefeated kings at the top of the heavyweight division and we could well be just months away from finding out who really is the one sat firmly on the throne.