It was nearly three years since Carl Froch and George Groves drew 80,000 fans to London’s Wembley Stadium. Few venues provide a more special atmosphere for major sporting events like Wembley Stadium and April 29 was historic in more ways than one.
Not only did Anthony Joshua drew a record 90,000 people to Wembley, but he also knocked down Wladimir Klitschko three times en route to becoming the new face of boxing and winning the unified world heavyweight championship. Joshua retained his IBF title and won the vacant WBA title.
Joshua, the younger and faster boxer, started off hot winning the early rounds of the fight and even scored his first knockdown of the night in the fourth round. Joshua celebrated a little too much after the knockdown and gassed himself, leaving Klitschko the perfect opportunity to come back and knock down Joshua in the following round.
What followed was Klitschko’s veteran experience in the middle rounds and taking advantage of a tired Joshua. Joshua then dug deep and showed mental fortitude and caught his second wind. Joshua started landing his trademark uppercut in the ninth round and eventually shifted the momentum back to him with two knockdowns in the 11th round. The referee stopped the fight with just 35 seconds remaining, officially crowning Joshua as the new king of the heavyweights.
Joshua gave a heartfelt speech to Klitschko as the sold out Wembley Stadium gave a standing ovation to the former champion. Klitschko said he wants a rematch, as the rematch is in the fight contract.
As for Joshua, he is open to a rematch, but he also spent part of his post-fight speech calling out Tyson Fury, the man who defeated Klitschko in 2015 to win the unified heavyweight title, but has been out of the sport due to his personal demons and drug issues forcing the sport’s major governing bodies to strip Fury of his titles.
