Oleksandr Usyk was brutal in his dismantling of Anthony Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night, but it appears the Ukrainian remains a fighter with a real heart.

Putting on a masterclass in north London this past weekend, the 34-year-old ended Joshua's second reign as undisputed champ, as the Brit ended the fight on the ropes and with his left eye severely swollen.

With 'The Cat' set to put AJ away in the final seconds of fight, Joshua miraculously survived to the final bell. It seems, however, divine intervention was not at play.

Instead, as Usyk has now revealed, the newly-crowned WBA Super, IBF, WBO and IBO champ decided not to got for the kill against his opponent, as Joshua had family and friends at ringside.

The two men were the picture of respect for one another in last week's build-up to the heavyweight showdown, and it may have played a part in Usyk's act of mercy.

When asked if he went 'easy' on Joshua this past weekend, the Soviet-born fighter stated: "Why are you so bloodthirsty? There is victory, everything is fine.

"Why is it necessary for a person to fall? He has relatives, friends, a mother and a father. This is a big chunk of health if a person falls. I'm not for that."

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As Usyk went on to add, his corner also had eased off on the idea of wanting to KO his opponent, instead to merely focus on the job in hand. 

"I had no objective to knock him out because my trainer, in my corner, pushed me not to do that.

"In the beginning, I hit him hard and tried to knock him out. But then my trainer said: 'Just stop, and do your job.'"

Usyk's act of humanity is not, however, the first to take place in the professional fighting arena.

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ENTER GIVEAWAY

During what turned out to be Khabib Nurmagomedov's final fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October of last year, The Eagle signed off his career with a second-round technical submission of the Arizonan.

His latest and final demolition job in the Octagon, as Daniel Cormier revealed in his podcast DC and Helwani, ended when he chose to lock his opponent in a triangle choke instead of an armbar in order to prevent breaking the American's limb in front of his family, who were cageside.

As two men with a distinct ruthless streak, it does seems that as fighters, both legends in their own right, have the heart of champions.