Joshua is a superstar in the making

Anthony Joshua survived the first knock-down of his young career, coming back to drop Wladimir Klitschko twice before stopping him in the 11th round Saturday night to retain his heavyweight titles. Before a boisterous crowd of 90,000 at Wembley Stadium, Joshua and Klitschko traded huge punches and showed grit before Joshua finally found a way to finish the longtime former champion.

It was anybody’s fight when Joshua landed a right uppercut early in the 11th round that spun Klitschko’s head around. He was all over the Ukrainian and dropped him with a left hook, but Klitschko got up only to take even more punishment.

Joshua knocked Klitschko down again and was landing punches to his head on the ropes when referee David Fields moved in to stop the bout late in the 11th round.

Joshua defended his heavyweight titles, winning for the 19th time in as many fights in a bout that lived up to its billing as the best heavyweight fight in more than a decade. “I just want to fight everyone, man,” Joshua said. “I’m really loving this right now.”

Just five years removed from winning an Olympic gold medal in London, Joshua stopped a fighter who dominated the heavyweight division for nearly a decade. Though the win came with some anxious moments for the hometown fans, it also established Joshua as a superstar in the making who just might be the fighter who can make boxing must-see TV once again.

“Anthony was better today than I,” Klitschko said. “It’s really sad that I didn’t make it tonight. I was planning to do it. It didn’t work. But all the respect to Anthony, congratulations.”

The fight ended in such spectacular fashion that Joshua can now write his own ticket in a heavyweight division long starved for star power.