Anthony Joshua on Saturday night stopped Alexander Povetkin in the 7th round to retain his IBF, WBA, and WBO heavyweight titles at Wembley Stadium in London.
The defending champion earned £ 20 million for his latest’s fight. Povetkin, meanwhile, heads back east with £ 6 million in his back account.
Povetkin, who won the WBA title from 2011 to 2013, had an astonishing start by shaking the starter. His uppercut bowed the knees of a much larger Joshua in the first round and the Russian maintained a good pace in the next few rounds. Even so, Povetkin was also pinched and bleeding over his left eye.
In the fourth, a smart uppercut from Joshua bust the eyelid above Povetkin’s left eye, and clearly it lifted the Briton.
In the sixth round, however, Joshua hit the target much more often. Then in the seventh, he sent Povetkin to the mat for the first time, and even though the referee gave the latter a second chance to pull himself together, Joshua closed the books a few seconds later.
“I knew that Povetkin was a very tough aspirant. He showed it tonight with a good left hook and excellent counter-attacks.” Joshua said afterwards.
“But I came here to have fun, apply what I worked on in the gym and do my best. He was weaker to the body, so instead of just placing jabs in the head, I alternated and tried to slow him down. Whether it takes 7, 9 or 12 rounds, the goal was simply to come out victorious,” Joshua added.
Anthony Joshua fails to land his left hook on Alexander Povetkin.(Source:www.newshub.co.nz)
As predicted, Povetkin was always going to be dangerous but the defending champion grew in confidence and ended in style. Heavyweight boxing is about knockouts and he was brutal in delivering it.
The plan for Joshua, if respected, is ultimately to challenge WBC champion Deontay Wilder to unify all titles in April 2019. However, Wilder must first compete against Tyson Fury on December 1.
“In order, I’d like Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and then Dillian Whyte,” Joshua said.
On the other hand, in the semifinals of the gala, Luke Campbell won unanimously against Yvan Mendy. He thus becomes a mandatory challenger to the WBC Lightweight title.
