Before a crowd of nearly 80,000 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Anthony Joshua beat Joseph Parker by unanimous decision to become a three-belt world heavyweight champion. He delivered the first loss of the New Zealander's career on Saturday.
Joshua was taken the distance for the first time in his 21-fight professional career, having won his other 20 by knockout.
Two judges awarded the fight to Joshua 118-110. The other had it 119-109.
Joshua added Parker's WBO strap to his WBA, IBO and IBF titles, and moved within one belt of becoming the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000.
Deontay Wilder holds the other main heavyweight belt, the WBC's, and could meet Joshua before the end of this year.
But Dillian Whyte, who is the WBC's top rated contender to Wilder's title, believes his former foe, Joshua, has other ideas.
Joshua and Whyte have a rivalry that dates back to the amateurs. They met in the ring back in December of 2015, with Whyte rocking Joshua early - and then the British superstar came back to stop Whyte in the seventh round.
Both Joshua and Whyte have discussed their desire to have a rematch in the future - and the contest would generate huge business if Whyte had the WBC title around his waist.
"Listen, AJ wants nothing more than me to go and fight Wilder and beat him, and for me and him to set up a rematch as both British world champions," Whyte told Sky Sports.
"That's boxing history. That would be bigger than him fighting Wilder. That's proper history - two British fighters on British soil for all the world heavyweight titles at once. That's pure history.
"I would like to fight AJ another two or three times over my career. I think it's one of those fights where we work hard, we'll always be motivated, and we'll always want to beat each other up. We just have that chemistry."
Wilder has no interest in facing Whyte - unless there is a contract clause that guarantees Joshua to the winner.
2023-10-20 18:09:10
