Wladimir Klitschko believes he demonstrated Anthony Joshua is
vulnerable and struggled to conceal his desire for a rematch of their
thrilling heavyweight world title unification at Wembley.
Joshua added the vacant WBA title and the more lightly regarded IBO
belt to his IBF crown by sending
Klitschko to the canvas twice during
round 11 before forcing the stoppage with a capacity crowd of 90,000
utterly enraptured.
It appeared the 27-year-old was on course to wrap up his 19th
knockout win in as many professional bouts much earlier in the piece
when he rocked Klitschko with a left in round five before battering him
to the floor.
But the veteran two-time champion fought back strongly to leave
Joshua in trouble at the bell and a clinical right to the temple dropped
Joshua in six to audible gasps.
Speaking at a post-fight news conference, Klitschko reflected that,
at this point, he might have allowed is
customary caution to kick in as
he let the younger man off the hook.
"I thought, 'he's not going to get up'. He managed to get up. Respect," he said.
"From that moment I kind of felt that he's out of gas and concentration. He recovered though through the rounds.
"I think I could have done more to finish him off, right after he
went down but I was pretty sure that it was going to be my night so I
took my time."
It wasn't to be, as a chilling right uppercut from Joshua in the
penultimate round of the scheduled 12 sent Klitschko hurtling towards a
defeat he bravely resisted.
"I've always been a fan of AJ's talent since we met in sparring
sessions in Austria. I think that today, the fact he beat me shows he
has these qualities," said the Ukrainian.
"How he's going to develop, we'll see. I think he's vulnerable and that's maybe something that he will need to work on.
"But he is today's success, he is unified champion. You have to respect it."
Klitschko insisted he would not make any hasty announcement over his
next move but did not sound like a man ready to walk away as he
confirmed he and Joshua have a rematch clause in their contract.
"If I'm going to fight, only the rematch, of course. I'm not going to
walk down and fight anyone else," he said, before dismissing the
prospect of Joshua facing Tyson Fury, who beat him in Dusseldorf in
November 2015.
"I will not comment because right now Joshua is tied down to me," he
added, having discussed the problems presented by Fury's much-publicised
issues away from the ring.
There would certainly be a willing audience for a re-run of a titanic
tussle which Klitschko appreciated had a wider significance to his
sport.
"It was a great night for boxing and it was an exciting fight," he
said. "I'm happy about that and that's what I'm taking with me.
"I don't feel like someone who lost. I think tonight we all won."
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