LONDON — Welcome to the Anthony Joshua era. The undefeated fighter staked his claim to heavyweight supremacy by overcoming a sixth round knockdown to stop former undisputed champion and future Hall of Famer Wladimir Klitschko in 11 rounds before 90,000 rabid fans at Wembley Stadium.
Although Klitschko displayed spry footwork in the early rounds, it was Joshua who was the active puncher. The titlist kept Klitschko backpeadling with pushing jabs and overhand rights. However, Klitschko remained dangerous by catching most of those shots on the gloves and landed several strong right hands in the second and fourth.
A dramatic fifth round saw Joshua storm out and hurt Klitschko with a clubbing right hand. He continued the blitzing assault to cut Klitschko over the left eye and score a knockdown. The challenger proved resilient by crashing in multiple left hooks to stun a fatigued Joshua to close the stanza.
It would be the patented Klitschko 1-2 followed by a left hook that produced the most perilous moment of Joshua’s career in round six. He was dropped early in the round and forced to survive off the backfoot as Klitschko pursued with lead hooks. Klitschko built his momentum further by controlling the action with a ramrod jab in rounds 7-8.
Gradually, Joshua worked his way back into the fight. He outworked Klitshko in rounds 9-10 by focusing his attack on the body. However, Klitschko still was in a position to close the bout, as evidenced by a heavy right hand that punctuated the 10th.
Joshua seized the final advantage in the 11th by exploiting Klitschko’s clinching. He rocked the former champion with a vicious right uppercut that lead to another knockdown. Joshua quickly floored Klitschko again with a right hand for a third knockdown. Klitschko rose again but was trapped in a corner and unable to hold, forcing the referee to call the bout.
Joshua improves to 19-0 and is now the unified IBF and WBA champion. A rematch clause is in place. Should Klitschko not exercise it, Joshua named-checked domestic rival and lineal champion Tyson Fury as a potential opponent.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 
Maaaan this had to be the best HW in recent memory??? I think old man Wlad showed that AJ still struggles with gassing and movement, but AJ showed serious heart and should of gained invaluable experience from the fight
I think a prime Wlad may of finished AJ off, but credit to both fighters for producing… I kinda felt sorry for Wlad in the end, seems he is going out on loss, but he went out in style…
Also did you think Wlad looked skinny as hell??? I know he came in light, probably to make use of his movement, but he used to be a mountain and imposing…
What do you think of AJ now, where does he goes now, who he beats/loses and the HW division Ismael???
In my opinion, this was the best heavyweight title match since Brewster-Liakhovich. Whyte-Chisora was very good but this was fought on a much higher skill level. Joshua went through a baptism by fire and you’re right — the experience and confidence he learned in this fight will do wonders for the rest of his career. Not to mention the health of the HW division. There’s been a lot of attention from casual fans on this fight over here in the US.
Oh definitely, prime Wlad wins this handily. He was in great shape, but I noticed his reaction time on counters and setting up his shots was slower. Joshua’s team turned out to be exactly right that they caught Wlad at the perfect time. This had to take a lot out of Wlad and I expect Joshua to have an easier time if a rematch happens. Hope Wlad hangs it up, he’s had a phenomenal career and has nothing left to prove.
Wlad and Joshua’s weight proved to be the ultimate irony. Wlad was ripped and able to move better, but wasn’t strong enough in the clinches to hold off the late body attack (and that hellacious uppercut). On AJ’s end, coming in at a career-high 250 helped him outmuscle Wlad in the clinches, but I think it hurt his stamina and made his movement even more plodding (I noticed he was pushing way too much with that right hand).
As of now I feel AJ has the highest ceiling of all the heavyweights. If Tyson Fury can recapture his championship form, I think he’s the most dangerous rival. Wilder will always be a threat with that power, but he’s too wild with his offense and AJ would bully him inside. Parker wouldn’t be able to handle the power and while I like Luis Ortiz’s skills, this layoff at his age is a huge detriment.
Thats brilliant that even the casual fans over there took to the fight, I heard both Showtime and HBO picked the fight up which is massive, but the fact the causal fans over there now know who he is now is huge… Im gonna try find the American coverage and hear their thoughts… I did see AJ shout ‘the chizzzzzy’ which made Max Kellerman make a hater face haha
With regards to AJ gassing there has always the question mark over him, I think its down to the amount of his muscle mass he carries, people always seem to of always questioned his stamina (i notice his mouth is always open too) and his tank did look empty after his knock down and like you said he was pushing his punches… I find him way too flat footed, a straight forward pure box-puncher, so I think movers will always give him trouble, its just if/when he catches them then the chances are they are going down, like you say I think he is the hardest puncher in the division…
I thought Wlad look mad skinny in the ring, I didnt think he looked that great (ascetically) tbh, a few people said to me how great he looked physically and that it was because he was planing on boxing circles around AJ etc, but I thought it was a bad move as I thought Wlad could of still out boxed AJ with his normal ’stacked’ physique, or kept him at the end of his jab and then tied him up inside (which i thought was the obvious game plan) I didnt think he needed to lose all that weight, I thought it made him look older too, Im used to seeing Wlad looking imposing but he really didnt look that to me at all… And like you said, it gave AJ the advantage in size when they did tie up, although Wlad still had some oldman tricks for him haha
Whats next for AJ though, I think Parker is light work for him, I was fully on the Parker hype train when he first turned over pro, but unfortunately he hasnt really lived up to what I thought, I think his defence is way too open, especially for a big puncher, I think AJ would probably punch straight through his guard, Wilder’s windmilling would probably have him come unstuck, though it would could potentially be a good firefight while it lasted as both have power and questions over their chin!!! But I think we will see BELLEW and Wilder as they have been exchanging words… I was hoping the Hughie Fury/Parker would come off though, as I thought that was Hughie’s only real chance of gaining a legitiment world title… Its a shame Ortiz left Eddie Hearn as it would of made the AJ fight easy to make, Im not sure if you saw his couple fights over here??? He failed to impress the casual fans after a massive hype build up of ‘the cuban tyson’ etc so his team and Eddie parted ways…
But its great the HW scene is buzzing again!!!