By Alexey Sukachev
O2 Arena (Millenium Dome), Greenwich, London - 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist for the United Kingdom, Anthony Joshua (9-0, 9 KOs), celebrated his 25th birthday four days short of an anniversary with his first professional strap. Joshua stopped durable Russian veteran Denis Bakhtov (38-10, 25 KOs) in two rounds to get the vacant WBC International heavyweight title.
Joshua was doing very well against the faded Russian right from the starters. Bakhtov, 34, struggled to find his distance and was taking punches from the Olympic champion. Joshua's speed was the biggest issue as Bakhtov just couldn't see those punches coming. He was able to block some of them but a number also penetrated his guard. Late in the first he went in for an exchange and ate a major right hand that forced him in retreat.
In round two, Bakhtov chose a wrong option to rumble with the British top-notch talent and paid a price. He did score with some uppercuts in close quarters but then was hurt by a right hand and staggered along the ropes. Referee Ian John-Lewis kept a close look at him but allowed him to take another combination from Joshua before making it a official stoppage.
Bakhtov never went down but he was completely outclassed. Time of stoppage was 1:00. Next up for Joshua is a British title eliminator against another veteran Michael Sprott (42-22, 17 KOs) on November 22 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
