Anthony Joshua: 'I wouldn't have stopped punching Whyte if referee hadn't stepped in'

Anthony Joshua may have been crowned British heavyweight champion after his seventh round knockout of Dillian Whyte, but the brawl at the end of the first round dominated the post-fight talk.

Joshua landed a punch after the bell, to which Whyte reacted by fighting back and almost landing a punch on referee Howard Foster.

Both corners jumped into the ring and it took several ugly seconds for the ring to be cleared and order fully restored, with Joshua lucky to avoid a point deduction and Whyte lucky to avoid disqualification.

When asked if he hit Whyte after the bell, Joshua said: “I don’t know, it’s a fight and if someone punches you, you’re going to punch back, and keep on punching. That’s why the referee is in there to break it up, because we would have been fighting for 36 minutes without a break otherwise. He split it up, but I don’t know who hit who after the bell.”

Joshua’s run of 15 consecutive professional wins, all by knockout, continues and the Watford-born fighter believes this fight was his ‘coming of age fight’ in front of 20,000 raucous fans in London.

“This is just what I needed at this stage of my career,” The Olympic gold medallist said after the fight. “People said ‘Can he take a shot?’ and I took a couple of silly ones, and ‘Can he go the rounds?’ and I managed to go further than I’ve ever been before and still managed to get him out. I learned stuff about myself tonight and I can take that experience into 2016.”

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes his fighter dug deep for the victory, and proved he is ready for a world title fight next year.

“He’s making the O2 Arena his home and tonight he got drawn into an emotional fight,” Hearn said. “He had to show a lot of heart. We know he’s got the skill, we know he’s got the speed and we know he looks like a million dollars, but tonight he showed he is made of the hard stuff. Respect to Dillian Whyte, but the journey continues for Anthony Joshua. I believe 2016 will bring a world title shot.”