Two greats of the boxing ring went toe-to-toe last night with Anthony Joshua taking on Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 at Wembley Stadium, London.
AJ, the 27-year-old with a 100 per cent record heading into the fight, was the favourite, and proved that to be the case beating his 41-year-old Ukrainian counterpart with an 11th round stoppage.
Klitschko earned so much respect from the fight (just in case he didn't have enough already), Joshua's reputation went from sky high to out of this world.
And watching on, undoubtedly, from the great boxing ring in the sky was the legend Muhammad Ali.
Ali sports a very similar record to Klitschko with both fighting in to their late 30s: Ali was only a month or so from his 40th birthday with his last professional fight, Klitschko was 41 for Saturday's match.
Famed for his famous sayings, and some memorable images, Ali was arguably the greatest of his day.
Last night, Joshua became a great. He'd never boxed past the seventh round of a boxing match before, and in taking Klitschko to the 11th he eventually became the holder of the IBF, WBA and IBO world heavyweight belts.
At one point, during the fight, as Joshua floored Klitschko there was a remarkable comparison in pictures, and social media soon picked up on it...
Although, to be fair, that wasn't the only memorable moment from the match...
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In living memory, this has to be one of the best fights in a long time. It had everything. The build-up - the talk of whether the experience of 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko could outdo the young athletic talent of Anthony Joshua; the walk ons - Joshua in the middle of his flame-lit initials; and then the fight itself.
Credit: PA
After a tentative couple of rounds, AJ went for it in the fifth, he was then floored in the sixth, before hammering Klitschko in the 11th - ultimately seeing the fight stopped.
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The result, as great as it was, did not take anything away from the ultimate composure, and legendary status, of Ukrainian, Klitschko.
Credit: PA
Credit: PA
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It now means that the Watford-born boxer holds the IBF, WBA and IBO world heavyweight belts, as 90,000 people cheered him on from a packed Wembley Stadium.
Credit: PA
The telling right uppercut that rocked Klitschko into a different world for a bit, was one of the finest shots in the ring. One Twitter fan wrote: "Klitschko's sould left his body."
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On top of that, Joshua maintains a 100 per cent professional fight record (19 fights, 19 wins), and pockets a healthy £15m.
After the fight, both boxers were chivalrous in defeat, Joshua told the crowd: "What can I say, first and foremost, 19 and 0, three-and-a-half years in the game.
"I'm not perfect but I'm trying. I want to give a shout out to all my trainers, to 90,000 people in the arena, and lastly, as boxing states, you leave your ego at the door and you respect your opponent.
"So a massive shout to Wladimir Klitschko. In terms of the boxing hall of fame he is a role model ion and out of the ring.
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"I have nothing but respect for anyone who steps in the ring. I'm a little bit emotional, I dig deep. If you don't take part you will never know. London, Germany, Ukraine, I love you."
Credit: PA
Credit: PA
Joshua claimed that the only was he was going to improve was to be knocked down by Klitschko, but said he "had to dig" once floored.
The 27-year-old then called out Tyson Fury: "And Fury, where you at baby? I enjoy fighting, Tyson Fury, I know he's been talking a lot, and he wants to compete. I love boxing, I will fight anyone now."
Fury responded with a tweet saying "let's dance."
Klitschko said: "I hope you enjoyed the fight, the best man won tonight, it's an amazing event for boxing. Two gentlemen fought each other. I say gentlemen because boxing came from England.
"It's really sad that I didn't make it tonight. It didn't work. All the respect to Anthony, congratulations."
Credit: PA
If these two do rematch, and it is half of what last night was, then we're still in for a cracker.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Wembley, muhammad ali
