Comeback City – Anthony Joshua storms back to defeat Alexander Povetkin, remain undefeated

If DAZN wanted to leave a lasting impression for boxing fans, especially in the U.S., they had to hit it out of the park with Anthony Joshua v. Alexander Povetkin. Seven rounds later, it looks like the streaming service, like Joshua, hit a literal knockout.

In front of a sold out crowd inside Wembley Stadium in London, Joshua (22-0) defeated Povetkin (34-2) after a right hand which finally knocked the challenger down. The former retained his WBA, IBF and WBO World Heavyweight Championships, but it wasn’t easy for the 28 year old boxing phenom.

Joshua looked strong in round one, hitting a combination of hooks and jabs. Povetkin opened up, however, pushing Joshua back. Almost like a game of chess, each fighter was trying to make one calculating move after the next. Towards the end of the round, Povetkin hit a strong hook, making Joshua move back a bit.

Round two saw Joshua bleeding early, with a potential broken nose. Povetkin kept on hitting concise jabs and strong hooks. Joshua through a few combination shots but the challenger was still holding his own.

Joshua started to get some sort of momentum in round three, blocking a few shots and hitting some of his own. He continued to be no match for Pvetkin’s heavy rights, however. By the end of the round, Povetkin was hitting over 30 jabs on 98 tries, while Joshua was only hitting two on 24 attempts. Round four was more of the same, except for the fact that Povetkin was bleeding above his left eye. It didn’t seem to affect his chances as they headed to the next round.

Round five was where Joshua was finally able to hit the jabs he needed. Povetkin was still able to launch while under him, but it was the first time Joshua didn’t look lost. Come round six, however, the momentum shifted. Joshua landed repeated hooks to the face of Povetkin, and towards the end of the round had hooks and jabs flying across the ring. Joshua was back and ready to pounce after that.

Following Joshua’s resurgence, there was nothing Povetkin could do come round seven. Joshua’s combination punches were too much for the challenger, and a right hook by Joshua knocked down Povetkin for the first time. He almost went through the ropes, making the end result almost inevitable. Joshua finally hit money combinations, making the ref stop the fight before Povetkin was fully down and out.

https://twitter.com/DAZN_USA/status/1043618457743491072

Speaking after the fight, Joshua had the following to say about Povetkin:

“He’s a tough challenger, he proved that tonight but I came in here to have fun and do my best. I switched it up and slowed him down.”

Povetkin proved why the was a worthy challenger after everyone wrote him off of this fight from the very beginning. He showed some heart here, and this fight could lead to a rematch down the line.

That was Joshua’s 21st knockout win of his career. Towards the end of the fight, Joshua was starting to land his punches. He landed 21-47 punches over Povetkin’s six on 28 attempts.

So, what is next for Joshua? He already has a fight scheduled for April 13, 2019. He was very adamant about facing Deontay Wilder, who is scheduled to defend his WBC Heavyweight World Championship against  Tyson Fury on December 1.

“If there’s no mandatories, who do you want me to fight here on April 13? My number one would be Wilder. See you then.”