Britain’s Anthony Joshua on Saturday defeated veteran Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko in a world heavyweight title fight epic in front of 90,000 people at Wembley, taking victory on an 11th round stoppage.
With this victory, Joshua became the unified heavyweight world champion by adding the WBA belt to his IBF title with the 11th-round stoppage of Klitschko in a thrilling fight.
The 27-year-old was knocked down in round six but twice had Klitschko on the canvas in the penultimate round before the referee stepped in.
England’s Joshua remains undefeated as a professional, with 19 victories. The bout drew a record post-war British boxing crowd of 90,000 at Wembley.
The Briton landed a brutal uppercut which gave him the platform to send Klitschko down with an immediate flurry.
The Ukrainian was also sent crashing to the floor in the fifth round and twice more in the pivotal 11th as the 27-year-old British fighter took his record to 19 wins in 19 fights.
“What can I say? 19-0, three and a half years in the game. As I said, I’m not perfect but I’m trying and if you don’t take part you’re going to fail,” said Joshua who was put on the canvas for the first time in his career.
“As boxing states, you leave your ego at the door and you respect your opponent. So a massive shout out to Wladimir Klitschko.”
A third defence of his IBF world heavyweight title also earned Joshua the vacant WBA belt as he became the first British heavyweight since Lennox Lewis in 2002 to hold two versions of the world title.
It was Klitschko’s first stoppage defeat since Lamon Brewster beat him in 2004 and leaves his record at 64 wins and five defeats.
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