Anthony Joshua defeated Alexander Povetkin by TKO in the seventh round at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night in London during the headline bout of the inaugural boxing event on DAZN.
In front of a crowd of more than 80,000 people, Joshua erased some early-round adversity with a devastating left hook and right hand to the head that dropped his opponent. Though Povetkin beat the count and was briefly able to continue, Joshua quickly pushed ahead with a barrage of shots that led to referee Steve Gray stopping the fight as Povetkin sailed to the canvas a second time.
Tonight was the second loss of Povetkin’s career and the first via stoppage. Joshua remains undefeated.
Post-fight quotes and the full card’s results are below.
Anthony Joshua:
ON ALEXANDER POVETKIN AS AN OPPONENT
“At this level, it’s never going to be easy. Povetkin is a tough challenger, for sure, but I knew how to break him down.”
ON HIS CRITICS
“With my critics, I look at them not like my enemies, but as my friends, because they look at the smallest things in you to make you perfect… I look back at the feedback of people who support me and my critics on where I need to improve again.”
ON ADJUSTING TO POVETKIN
“You tend to lose instinct as you get older, but I believed in myself. I knew when the time was right. I know he’s strong to the head, but he’s weaker to the body…when the opportunity came, I saw and I took it.”
ON NEGOTIATING WITH WILDER
“If Wilder is not serious, there’s other people out there. When they’re ready we’re ready… I’ll fight Fury if he’s ready.”
ON WILDER-FURY
“Boxing needs it. I’ve been the burden of my division. I’ll always knock them down one by one, but people have to be patient. Good luck to both of them.”
Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Boxing Managing Director:
ON ANTHONY JOSHUA’S PERFORMANCE
“When you look at the resume of Anthony Joshua, he’s quite incredible. I’m Incredibly proud of this man for a performance that had so much pressure on to get the victory today.”
ON POTENTIAL FIGHT WITH WILDER
“I want Deontay Wilder because that is the biggest fight in world boxing… It would be the biggest fight in all-time British boxing history.”
ON FIGHTING IN THE U.S.
“It’s hard to leave Great Britain with this kind of support, but we have plans to take that legacy beyond Britain. We have plans to box in the U.S. and other territories. In 2019, you’ll see his first fight abroad.”
ON DAZN DEBUT
“I heard it went very well…We know the platform won’t be built in one event, but it just delivered the biggest star in world of boxing…This will be a 2-3 year project to make it the home of boxing. The feedback I’m getting from the U.S. side in terms of the broadcast was top draw.”
Saturday’s Results:
12-round WBA, IBF, WBO World Heavyweight Championship
Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin
Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) def. Povetkin (34-2, 24 KOs) TKO at 1:59 in Round 7
12-round Lightweight Bout
Luke Campbell vs. Yvan Mendy
Campbell (19-2, 15 KOs) def. Mendy (40-5, 20 KOs) via unanimous points
119-109, 118-111, 116-112
12-round Cruiserweight Bout
Matty Askin vs. Lawrence Okolie
Okolie (10-0, 7 KOs) def. Askin (23-4, 15 KOs) via unanimous points
116-110, 114-112, 114-113
10-round Heavyweight Bout
Sergey Kuzmin vs. David Price
Kuzmin (13-0, 9 KOs) def. Price (22-6, 18 KOs) RTD in Round 4
8-round Welterweight Bout
Shakhram Giyasov vs. Julio Laguna
Giyasov (5-0, 5 KOs) def. Laguna (14-1, 10 KOs) TKO in Round 4
DAZN’s next Matchroom Boxing broadcast will feature Jessie Vargas against Thomas Dulorme on Oct. 6 at WinTrust Arena in Chicago.
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