Anthony Joshua wasn’t wrong when he raised his hands in victory after knocking down Wladimir Klitschko in the fifth round of what looked like a one-sided heavyweight title fight. He was just celebrating too early.
The rookie mistake allowed Klitschko to rally, nearly taking the lead as the two men went to the 11th round — four rounds longer than any Joshua fight had ever gone. That’s when Joshua unleashed a brutal uppercut that spun Klitschko around, leading to a win that set off British celebrations in Wembley Stadium and beyond Saturday night and cemented the 27-year-old as boxing’s new superstar.
Klitschko who had barely thrown any power punches before the knockdown, came back to make the end of the fifth round interesting and knocked down Joshua in the next round.
With an entire country screaming for him, Joshua — who had knocked out all his previous opponents by the end of the seventh round — looked tired. But he saved his best for the late rounds, particularly the uppercut that will be a YouTube moment for decades.
Klitschko didn’t fall down after the uppercut, but Joshua was all over the stunned former champ and dropped him with a left hook. Klitschko got up only to take even more punishment. Joshua knocked down Klitschko again and was landing punches to his head on the ropes when referee David Fields moved in to stop the bout late in the 11th round.
Klitschko’s rally was inspiring, starting soon after he was knocked down in the fifth. By the end of the round, it was Klitschko pummeling a tired Joshua.
Joshua was still feeling the effect of those punches when he was dropped by a right hand in the sixth round. Klitschko began piling up rounds and it seemed like the savvy Ukrainian would quiet the hometown fans, until Joshua turned things around with that vicious right uppercut.
Joshua was up 96-93 and 95-93 on two scorecards, while Klitschko was ahead 95-93 on the third going into the final round.
Kevin Barry, trainer of WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, felt Klitschko let Joshua off the hook when he dropped him in the sixth.
"He did look completely gone, and I think ... Klitschko will be very disappointed because the next two rounds I believe Anthony Joshua was a like a dead man walking," Barry said to the New Zealand Herald.
"Klitschko let him off the hook, he let him walk around and recover and I remember saying to Joe, 'if he gets past the seventh round this could change things around'. I think the fight was there for Klitschko to win, but great character from Joshua. He showed he's still a young guy and still developing - it was a huge step up in class for him and he came away victorious. When you let your hands go you increase your chances of winning."
