Anthony Joshua knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round to secure a stunning victory at Wembley Stadium.
The Sun UK reports that the 90,000 boxing fans in the national stadium were on their feet as the Watford man retained the IBF belt and also bagged the WBA and IBO strap.
Klitschko was knocked down in the fifth, and then the tables were turned in round six when Klitschko landed a huge right that floored Joshua.
In the 11th round, Klitschko tasted the canvas twice more, until the referee dived in to wave off the fight as Joshua sealed victory in one of the best heavyweight fights of all time.
Joshua landed one of the best shots of the fight with a huge right uppercut that rocked Klitschko’s world, and while the Ukrainian didn’t go down, it was the beginning of the end.
One boxing fan wrote on Twitter that it was the moment “Klitschko’s soul left his body”.
Klitschko has not been stopped for 13 years – the last time came in 2003 when he was KO’d by Lamon Brewster.
It was a thrilling fight where both boxers landed huge shots at regular intervals. Just as one looked to be getting the upper hand, back came the other as Wembley erupted.
It was perhaps down to the experience gap between the two fighters that saw Klitschko expose Joshua in brutal fashion in the sixth, but the Brit showed tremendous heart and fight to secure a stunning victory at the national stadium.
Speaking in the ring after his momentous victory, Joshua said: “What can I say, first and foremost, 19 and 0, three-and-a-half years in the game.
“I’m not perfect but I’m trying. I want to give a shout out to all my trainers, to 90,000 people in the arena, and lastly, as boxing states, you leave your ego at the door and you respect your opponent.
“So a massive shout to Wladimir Klitschko. In terms of the boxing hall of fame he is a role model in and out of the ring.
“I have nothing but respect for anyone who steps in the ring.
“I’m a little bit emotional, I dig deep. If you don’t take part you will never know.
“London, Germany, Ukraine, I love you.”
On being knocked down he added: “This is boxing, I’m only going to improve. When you are in the trenches that’s when you find out who you really are.
“There are no complications in boxing, anyone can do this, just go in and keep on digging. You can see, I won, that’s how I had to dig.
“I fought my heart out.
“And Fury, where you at baby? I enjoy fighting, Tyson Fury, I know he’s been talking a lot, and he wants to compete. I love boxing, I will fight anyone now.”
He said: “I hope you enjoyed the fight, the best man won tonight, it’s an amazing event for boxing. Two gentleman fought each other. I say gentleman because boxing came from England.
“It’s really sad that I didn’t make it tonight. It didn’t work. All the respect to Anthony, congratulations.”
He then called the crowd awesome, as most in the stadium applauded a true legend of the sport.
No comments:
Post a Comment