What we learned about Joshua

Compared to Frank Bruno by many, it was a worn-out, flimsy criticism thrown at Joshua over the last year or so. He was all muscles and pose, enough to see him push over lesser fighters, but when stepping up and being dragged into the later rounds, he’d gas and be found out. It was obvious that Team Klitschko would look to expose that inexperience on Saturday, remaining cautious in the opening stages and pulling their man out into deep water.

It can’t be argued that the pace of the fight was getting to AJ in the second-half, and he was spotted throwing some lazy, half-hearted jabs, but he held it together and retained  the punch power to trouble his man near the end. Round 11, looking like he was fading fast, Joshua had enough in his legs to cut off the ring and deliver a combo of such power it ended matters, dodging what would’ve been a very interesting points decision. At the time of the stoppage, two judges had AJ ahead, one went with his opposite number.

Verdict – Joshua proved he can fight long into the night, and with the rounds under his belt, will only get better. We sometimes forget he’s only had 19 fights.

Struggles against technical boxers

Hitting small, on-rushing opponents is simple enough, but when progressing against a master tactician and technical boxer in 6ft 6inch Klitschko, the champ was expected to come up short. This one was probably put together with Tyson Fury’s awkward style in mind, drumming up interest in that fight British super-fight, but critics seem to overlook Joshua’s amateur pedigree all too easily.

Winning a gold medal at London 2012, he came up against, and beat, a wide range of opponents at international level as an elite amateur, and called on that ring craft to win on Saturday. It was all too easy to admire the brutal punches being thrown by the victor to get the win, but when watching the fight back, pay close attention to his footwork, as he cuts the ring off, walks a tiring Wlad onto the ropes before putting him to the sword. He knew enough to get off the line and avoid Klitschko’s piercing jab when needed, and there’s not many in the fight game with a better range-finder than Saturday’s opponent, even at 41.

Verdict – Joshua isn’t a come forward brawler, he showed intelligence to evade Klitschko’s power shots, and the feet to move when needed.

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