For the first time in his professional boxing career, Anthony Joshua was involved in a serious brawl on Saturday night.
The British boxer had made light work of his previous 18 opponents, but then he came up against Wladimir Klitschko, one of the finest heavyweight’s the sport has seen.
Joshua prevailed, stopping the Ukrainian in the 11th round of a thrilling encounter, but Klitschko troubled AJ and knocked him to the canvas for the fight time ever.
The 41-year-old landed a massive right hand that send Joshua down in the sixth round.
Klitschko continued to punish Joshua in the seventh and eighth rounds and, according to ESPN, landed 94 punches in total with a connection percentage of 37.
You only had to look at Joshua’s face to realise how bruising the fight was.
Joshua did plenty of damage too, landing 107 punches, including that stunning uppercut in the 11th round.
Joshua's son has seen his black eye
The 2012 Olympic gold medallist showed off his black eye when he faced the media on Sunday.
Joshua revealed how his son, who is 18 months old, was shocked when he saw the black eye.
“My son JJ was with my mum while the fight was going on,” Joshua said, via the Daily Mail.
“I was speaking to my son who is 18 months and I could see he was looking at my eye and he went, ‘Wow’”.
It’s no surprise Joshua has banned his mother from watching his fights. Let’s be honest, which mother would enjoy watching their son take punch after punch, for the entertainment of others?
Joshua values family time
Joshua says he enjoyed spending time with his family because they allow him to separate himself from the boxing world.
Speaking to the Mirror before the Klitschko fight, he said: “You know what I like about the kids? About JJ and my little niece?
“It’s a time when I am so disconnected with what’s happening in the world because you’re in the park and you become a kid, and you focus on what they’re doing.
“It’s like going on holiday, you take yourself away from the situation. When I am with my son and my nieces, I take myself away from the hustle and bustle of the world and concentrate on these kids, who haven’t got a worry in the world.”