Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

Joshua vs Povetkin - as it happened: Anthony Joshua wins by seventh round TKO in devastating finish before revealing he wants to fight Deontay Wilder next

Follow live coverage of Joshua vs Povetkin as well as all the action from a packed undercard

Adam Hamdani
Wembley Stadium
Saturday 22 September 2018 18:15 EDT
Comments
Anthony Joshua celebrates beating Alexander Povetkin

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Anthony Joshua faces Alexander Povetkin in what the British champion has described as the "second hardest fight" of his professional career.​ Povetkin, the mandatory challenger to the WBA title, has the potential to become Russia's first ever unified world heavyweight champion, with Joshua's IBF, WBO and IBO straps on the line too.

The 39-year-old has lost just one of his 35 fights, a points defeat to the great Wladimir Klitschko in October 2013. Since then he has won eight consecutive fights, including a knockout victory over David Price on the Joshua-Parker undercard. Ominously, he has never been stopped.

Meanwhile, Joshua will be looking to extend his flawless professional record to 22-0 in his third fight at Wembley.

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load...

Matty Askin has some strong thoughts after losing his cruiserweight title to Lawrence Okolie.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:36

After 12 rounds of boxing, Yvan Mendy seems to think he's won it. He raises his arms aloft, meanwhile Campbell's team lift him into the air.

Both men think they've won, we await the judges scorecard to see the final result.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:39

Okolie says his points win over Askin was a 'learning fight'. A scrappy fight to say the least.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:40

119-109

118-111

116-112

By unanimous decision, Luke Campbell is now mandatory for the WBC lightweight title! A very impressive and tidy performance.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:43

  ↵Audley Harrison has made his prediction.

For what it's worth and that is a lot, I (Adam Hamdani) am prediction Joshua to beat Povetkin via with a ninth round knockout, my colleague to my left Luke Brown is saying the Brit wins in the fifth.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:48

This is unexpected!

Tony Bellew and Oleksandr Usyk come face-to-face in the ring. A nice little way to hype up their fight on the 10th November.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:50

No words being exchanged between the two, you can imagine this'll be a rather respectful build up - something Bellew hasn't been used to in his past couple of fights after facing expert trash talker David Haye.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:51

The scene at Wembley. Not long to go before ring walk time...

Wembley 

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:52

Warm up those vocal chords, Michael.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:54

Tyson Fury, who will fight Deontay Wilder in America early December, has this to say about tonight.

Adam Hamdani22 September 2018 21:54

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in