Froch: Joshua Showed Vulnerability, But He Will Only Get Better

It was a fight for the ages as British star Anthony Joshua defeated veteran Wladimir Klitschko in front of a 90,000-capacity crowd at Wembley on Saturday.

Joshua – who preserved his perfect professional record with a 19th successive win – climbed off the canvas having been floored for the first time in his career to end the titanic heavyweight battle in the 11th and penultimate round in London.

The 27-year-old added the IBO, WBA belts to his IBF title and post-fight, he warned the heavyweight division there is still room for improvement.

"This is boxing. I'm only going to improve," Joshua told Sky Sports Box Office. "Sometimes you can be a phenomenal boxer but this sport is about character. When you go to the trenches, that's when you find out who you really are.

"In this small little ring there's nowhere to hide. As I said from the get-go, it will be a boxing classic and the best man will win. There's no complications with boxing - anyone can do this. I came out and I won – that's how far I had to dig. I didn't go into a 12-round slug-fest and struggle to beat Klitschko. I came back and fought my heart out."

Joshua heaped praise on 41-year-old Ukrainian, who survived a fifth-round knockdown to drop his younger opponent heavily in the sixth.

Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch believes the knockdown will only make Joshua better as a fighter.

"There were a lot of questions - they've all be answered. Anthony Joshua came of age," Froch told Sky Sports. "It was almost impossible what he did - but he did it. All that training, all that sparring he put himself through the gym, all that pain was worth it. He dethroned an old, admittedly, but still a king in Wladimir Klitschko. To get put down and then somehow get up will make [Joshua] a better fighter, no doubt about it."

"We're talking about heavyweight boxing, when it can only take one punch, but him getting up proved he is better than a lot of people expected. Yes, he hadn't been down before, with the whole world watching, but that was one of the big questions we had about him. Lennox Lewis has done it, Mike Tyson has done it, anyone could get knocked out, especially when you are caught by such a clean shot from Klitschko.

"That showed his vulnerability which is no bad thing, as long as you can get through it, just as he did. Beating someone as good and experienced as Klitschko was one thing, but to do it after a heavy knockdown was amazing. I've known him and trained with him for a few years now, but now we will see the next stage."