Both fighters were on the brink of defeat at various stages, with Joshua recovering from a knockdown that subdued him in the middle rounds to steady the ship and stop the Ukrainian.
Klitschko, 41, defied many who believed he would be steamrollered in the early rounds by his younger opponent, and held off the Briton behind his jab.
Joshua found his mark with a ferocious flurry in the fifth that sent Klitschko to the canvas, but the experienced former champion held on to the bell.
Remarkably, he came back with a right hook of his own in the sixth to knock down the British fighter, who then himself appeared seconds from defeat.
A difficult few rounds followed for the 2012 Olympic champion as he threw little back and appeared to still be reeling from his brush with the canvas.
"What can I say? 19-0, three and a half years in the game. As I said, I'm not perfect but I'm trying and if you don't take part you're going to fail.
"As boxing states, you leave your ego at the door and you respect your opponent. So a massive shout out to Wladimir Klitschko."
Anthony Joshua has just called out Tyson Fury, who also beat Klitschko - on points in November 2015 - but has not fought since.
"Tyson Fury, where you at baby?" asks Joshua.
"Come on, is that what you want to see? I enjoy fighting. I love fighting. Tyson Fury I know he has been talking a lot and wants to come back and compete.
"I want to give 90,000 people another chance to come back and watch some boxing here," shouts out the three-belt champion.
Any talk of Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury may have to be shelved for a bit, as Wladimir Klitschko has a rematch clause to fight Joshua again.
However, the Ukrainian does add that he needs to take some time to "figure out" what happened. He is 41 and now lost his last two fights, albeit over a space of 16 months. Will we see him in a ring again?
Speaking to Sky Sports, he added: "The best man won tonight and it's a massive event for boxing.
"Two gentleman fought each other. Anthony was better today. It's really sad I didn't make it tonight. I was planning to do it, it didn't work. But all the respect to Anthony, congratulations."
No comments:
Post a Comment