Anthony Joshua added Joseph Parker's WBO belt to his IBF and WBA titles, maintaining his status as the world heavyweight No. 1 with a unanimous decision win Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales.
The 28-year-old boxer now has WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles to his name, and a unification fight with Deontay Wilder is the only step stopping Joshua from being the first heavyweight to hold all four major belts up for collection.
Joshua made it clear that he is ready to face Wilder to break a world record as the first to hold all four world heavyweight titles, when he screamed into the camera: “Wilder let’s go baby, let’s go!”
“My strategy was to stick behind the jab – it’s one of the most important weapons – a good jab will take you around the world. I was switched on, focused and went 12 rounds. It was light work,” he said.
“This was about boxing finesse – I stuck to my word. I know what it takes to be a champion. Joshua Parker said he wanted a war, but it was all about boxing finesse. The main thing we cannot forget is that I am the unified heavyweight champion of the world.”
The three judges unanimously scored Joshua 118-110, 118-110, 119-109 to clinch his sixth world title and win his 21st professional bout.
The Joshua V Parker fight is the first time two current heavyweight champions have fought against one another on British soil.
The bout was also only the second time two undefeated heavyweight title-holders have faced off after the 1987 scrap between Mike Tyson (who held the WBA and WBC belts) and Tony Tucker (the IBF champion) at the Las Vegas Hilton.
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