Round by round, fight by fight, victory by victory, Anthony Joshua is edging closer towards becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
It may not have been the explosive display of title fights past but Joshua took another step towards his ultimate goal by adding the WBO belt to the WBA, WBF and IBO titles he already held, by going the distance with Joseph Parker and winning a unanimous points decision in Cardiff.
The London 2012 super-heavyweight Olympic champion came into the contest with 20 wins, all via knockout, in his 20 professional fights to date.
He added a one to that tally with an all-round display of boxing craft that had two judges awarding him the fight 118-110 and the other 119-109.
And now, Joshua knows exactly what his next aim is – Deontay Wilder and his WBC belt which, should he take from the American, would make him the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
And he had a message for his rival across the pond.
“Wilder, let’s go baby. Let’s go,” proclaimed the 28-year-old.
“Twenty-one professional fights, six world championship fights. Does that not show you what route I’m going in?
“Forget the hype. I’m not into that, everyone here knows me better than that. I’m about business, so let’s get the business done.
“I’m down to ride for whatever, whenever.”
Joshua had never boxed more than 11 professional rounds before but was taken the distance by a determined and fleet-footed Parker.
But the New Zealander eventually came up short, lacking the range to get inside and take the fight to Joshua – who used his six-inch advantage in reach to keep the Kiwi at arm’s length and dominate proceedings with his jab.
Joshua controlled the early rounds with his territorial advantage in the ring, forcing his opponent to the periphery as he commanded the centre.
In truth, neither man landed a telling combination of blows all night but Joshua was clearly pleased to have proved his doubters wrong by lasting the full 36 minutes without Parker causing him any issues of note.
“My strategy was to stick behind the jab, it’s one of the most important weapons,” he added.
“The old saying is that the right hand will take you around the block, but a good jab will take you around the world, and that secured another world championship belt.
“I stuck behind the jab and I made sure that anything that was coming back, I was switched on and I was focussed.
“Twelve rounds baby, I thought it was hard, right?! It was light work. This is boxing, this is what we do.
“Ten rounds, two rounds, 12 rounds. Forget the hype, Joseph Parker is a world champion so I knew he was going to be determined and sometimes this does become a boxing match, and not a fight.
“This was about boxing finesse. Parker stated this would be a war. I stated boxing finesse and I stuck to my word.”
Sportsbeat 2018