Joshua's dominance continues with 17th straight KO in heavyweight title defense
British heavyweight star Anthony Joshua earned a seventh-round KO against Dominic Breazeale to retain his IBF heavyweight title
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2 min read
The result was never in doubt on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London as Anthony Joshua dominated Dominic Breazeale, eventually ending the fight with a seventh-round knockout to improve to 17-0 with 17 KOs as a professional and retain his IBF heavyweight title.
Breazeale proved that he has a strong chin but not much else in the fight, getting thoroughly outclassed by the young Brit and serving mostly as a punching bag for Joshua for six rounds before finally succumbing to the onslaught of punches in the seventh.
Joshua sent Breazeale to the canvas early in the seventh round with a flurry that included a hard right cross that did most of the damage. After Breazeale got up -- despite signs that he probably should've been stopped by the referee -- Joshua closed in for the finish, ending the fight with a vicious left hand that crumpled the American.
.@anthonyfjoshua KOs @TroubleBoxing in Round 7https://t.co/zTW7XKulJf
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 25, 2016
Joshua did what he was supposed to, which was dominate. He was a massive favorite in the sportsbooks and while the fight lasted longer than expected -- a testament to Breazeale's chin -- the end result came as advertised.
#AndStill@anthonyfjoshua successfully retains his IBF Heavyweight title over @TroubleBoxing via KO #JoshuaBreazealehttps://t.co/Pjabuvn1GM
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 25, 2016
The next question for Joshua is who will he take on next. He is reminiscent of a young Deontay Wilder in that he's a knockout machine that's been relatively untested. Wilder has proven himself in title fights against some quality opponents, but even he is yet to face elite competition -- not for a lack of effort as his fight against Alexander Povetkin was cancelled after Povetkin failed a drug test.
Joshua noted after the fight he wanted to take on WBA and WBO champ, and fellow countryman, Tyson Fury, but Fury won't fight against Wladimir Klitschko until this fall after suffering and ankle injury. Undefeated American Joseph Parker is the No. 1 contender on the IBF heavyweight rankings and that seems like the most likely opponent for Joshua.
For all the progress made in recent years by the heavyweight division to become more interesting and have some intriguing champions like Wilder and Joshua -- and Fury more for antics outside the ring than style in it -- the level of competition on the contenders list is still relatively low. That means making interesting heavyweight fights without unification bouts is tricky, but a Parker-Joshua bout seems like the best case scenario right now and would be the strongest test for the young Brit to date.
