Anthony Joshua, once again held his own against a formidable challenger, Alexander Povetkin, to retain his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium, London.
Povetkin On The Assault
The WBA mandatory challenger came at Joshua more prepared than the thousands at Wembley would have thought, handing the champ deadly mid shots until a brutal uppercut from the Russian left Joshua with a bloody nose at the end of the first round.
The once raving crowd was now mute, as Povetkin seemed to have the upper hand as the rounds progressed — with each powerful left hook that hit Joshua, Povetkin’s chance of walking away from the bout as the new unified heavyweight champion increased.
Joshua, meanwhile, reverted to keeping his guards up — while also maintaining a good distance away from the Povetkin’s punch range. This was a different challenger from anyone the boxer had ever faced and this called for a different approach — get the Russian exhausted; and it worked.
Champ!
Soon enough Povetkin, who started off very quick, began to slow down and loose his edge into the seventh round, and just right then, a perfectly calculated straight right from Joshua muddled Povetkin’s brains. The champ followed almost immediately with creative combos that left the Russian utterly overwhelmed as he hit the floor, handing Joshua his 22nd victory in 22 fights.
A very relieved and excited Joshua addressed the crowd, delighted to have retained his titles after a tough set of rounds.
“There was a lot of pressure tonight. The whole country is rooting for me. I’m a heavyweight, I’m a world champion. The energy in here spurs you on but I do feel the pressure, I’m not going to lie… I’ve suffered with a flu, this camp has been difficult. I knew I just had to stay in there.”
— Joshua
He also acknowledged Povetkin’s strength, insisting that despite the tough challenge he had to face against the Russian, he came to Wembley to have fun and he did.
“I realised he [Povetkin] was strong to the head but weak to the body and those body shots wore him down.”
– Joshua
Watch highlights from the match
