Anthony Joshua vs Dominic Breazeale was a

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

match contested between undefeated

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

champion

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles twice between 2016 and 2021. At r ...

, and the IBF's number 13 ranked contender,

Dominic Breazeale Dominic Angelo Breazeale (born August 24, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He has challenged twice for heavyweight world titles; the IBF title in 2016 and the WBC title in 2019. As an amateur he represented the United States at the 20 ...

. The bout took place on 25 June 2016 at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. Joshua defeated Breazeale, retaining his heavyweight title via seventh-round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO).

Background

Following Joshua's win over Charles Martin on 9 April, a second-round

(TKO) to capture the IBF heavyweight title, a shortlist of potential opponents for Joshua's first defence included former WBC champion

Bermane Stiverne Bermane Stiverne (born November 1, 1978) is a Haitian-Canadian professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2014 to 2015. He also challenged twice for world titles in 2017 and 2021. Amateur career Stiverne started boxing at the ...

, former world title challenger

Eric Molina The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

and the IBF's number 13 ranked undefeated contender

. On 21 April, Joshua revealed his next fight would take place on 25 June at The O2 Arena, with Breazeale being announced as the opponent a few days later.

The Fight

With not much action in the opener, a clean left hook from Joshua was the highlight of the round. In the second, Joshua began putting combination punches together and throwing at will. In the final minute, a right uppercut and left hook sent the American staggering across the ring. Breazeale began round three with a swollen right eye, a round in which both fighters began trading power punches, with Joshua snapping Breazeale's head back with stiff jabs and a looping left hook in the final seconds of the round. Round four saw much of the same from Joshua, with Breazeale's punch output slowing, Joshua controlled the round with jabs and power punches. Near the halfway point of round five, Joshua landed a left hook to momentarily stun Breazeale, followed by a brief moment of success by the challenger with a right hand. The sixth was a slow-paced round, with Breazeale finding the target, resulting in a bloodied nose for Joshua. The end came in the seventh, with Breazeale backing up against the ropes, Joshua unloaded a barrage of punches to send the American to the canvas. Breazeale beat the referee's count of ten, only to be backed up again with a flurry of punches, ending with a left hand to send the challenger down for the second time and prompting the referee to call a halt to the fight. At the time of the stoppage, 1 minute 1 second into the round, Joshua was ahead on the scorecards, with all three judges scoring the bout 60–54.

Fight card

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breazeale, Joshua 2016 in boxing 2016 in British sport June 2016 sports events in the United Kingdom 2016 sports events in London International sports competitions in London International Boxing Federation heavyweight championship matches Pay-per-view boxing matches Boxing matches involving Anthony Joshua

Background

The Fight

Fight card

See also

References