Joshua vs. Povetkin video recap: Joshua finishes Povetkin in round 7

Anthony Joshua defended his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles by knocking out Alexander Povetkin in the seventh round.

Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) extended his unbeaten run by knocking out Alexander Povetkin (34-2, 24 KOs) in the seventh round to defend his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles.

What was the high point of the fight?

Povetkin was very successful in the first two rounds of the fight, bursting inside range to land good combinations on a sluggish Anthony Joshua. An uppercut followed by a left hook troubled Joshua at the end of the first, and Povetkin continued his success in the second round when he landed a overhand right that caught Joshua off guard.

From the third round onwards, it seemed Joshua was finding his groove whilst Povetkin was slowing down. “AJ” worked well from distance, landing a lot of jabs to the body of Povetkin. In the seventh round, a few jabs from Joshua eventually set up a solid right hand that dazed Povetkin, then a left hook followed by a right hand sent the Russian to the canvas. By the time Povetkin had got back to his feet, a swarm of punches from Joshua had him stumbling into the ropes and the fight was stopped.

Where do these two go from here?

After the fight, the big question everyone wanted to know was, “Who’s next for Anthony Joshua?” The undefeated Brit addressed this in the ring, stating that providing there are no more mandatory challengers for his heavyweight titles, he’s going to let the fans decide who he will fight next by uploading a poll on Twitter. However, if it was up to him it would be Deontay Wilder in April of next year.

This is a major setback for Povetkin, suffering his first loss since being defeated by Wladimir Klitschko in 2013. It’s hard to say where the Russian goes from here, at 39-years old this was his last real run at any sort of title, but maybe a fight with Dereck Chisora would be a good one to make for Povetkin.

Watch it now, later or never?

Watch it now to see the devastating punches from Joshua that led to the finish.