Joshua takes WBO title with win over Joseph Parker

Joshua was forced to go the distance for the first time – but was unanimously declared the winner with a wide margin on the judges’ scorecards: 118-110 twice and 119-109.

Both fighters had stepped into the ring undefeated at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium and the win extends Joshua’s perfect pro record to 21 victories from as many bouts.

Joshua had won his previous 20 fights with knockouts but struggled to land clean shots on Parker, as a crowd of 78,000 watched on.

“I was switched on and I was focused, Joseph Parker is a world champion and I said this was about boxing finesse, said Nigerian born Joshua after the fight.

“What you can’t forget is that I am the unified heavyweight champion of the world.”