Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua recently won the biggest fight of his professional boxing career after he defeated Wladimir Klitschko via a technical knockout in the eleventh round. The undefeated Brit is now 19-0 in his boxing career and retained his IBF heavyweight title and also won the WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles.
Despite winning all of his fights before Klitschko via a knockout, a lot of people still doubted Joshua as he had never faced an opponent of Klitschko's calibre. The Ukrainian boxing legend had dominated the heavyweight division for almost a decade until he suffered a shock defeat to Tyson Fury in 2015.
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Now, Joshua himself is looking to stamp his name in boxing history and just like Klitschko did, the Brit wants to dominate the heavyweight division for a decade. The 27-year old bagged £15 million for his win against Klitschko and is now the most bankable asset in boxing. Joshua admitted that he needs to stay away from problems and troubles as he looks to maintain his amazing boxing record.
"I can't go to certain places. Everyone I smile at isn't going to smile back at me. I've got to stay away from any problems, any trouble. You are who you are. A leopard don't change its spots. I am what I am. I'm keeping it real," The Guardian quoted Joshua as saying.
Check out some of Alexander Povetkin's best knockouts throughout his career.
It's good to achieve it now but what would be better for me is to maintain it. That's what I said to Klitschko: for me this was not a defining fight. It's just part of my journey."
Joshua is not expected to get inside the boxing ring at least until October with a number of stars lining up to have a chance at him. The likes of Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and Joseph Parker have all been listed as his next possible opponent, but former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin has also gotten into the mix.
The Russian, who is also an Olympic gold medalist, is on a five match win streak at the moment since losing to Klitschko back in 2013. His former trainer Alexander Zimin believes Povetkin has the style to defeat Joshua. However, any possibility of a fight might have to wait after Povetkin failed two random drug tests in 2016.
"Alexander Povetkin would be a serious contender to Joshua and he could beat him, because he also has high impact style of fighting. Povetkin is more experienced, can punch hard and fights very well from a close distance. There is a good chance that he would succeed in the fight with Joshua, despite the superiority that Joshua has in size. But everything depends on the speed and strength training in camp and endurance," Zimin said.
