Anthony Joshua KOs Dillian Whyte to claim British heavyweight crown

Olympic gold medallist Joshua had never gone beyond the third round in any of his previous 14 rounds, all won by knockout, and kept his cool despite a chaotic invasion of the ring at the end of the first round.

Joshua landed a punch after the bell, to which Whyte’s corner risked disqualification for their man when they invaded the ring, igniting a brawl which lasted several seconds and almost resulted in referee Howard Foster being knocked out himself.

After a minute of carnage, Foster defused the situation well at the start of the second round and oversaw a raw, full-blooded combat that saw Whyte survive several rounds dominated by Joshua’s longer reach and huge hits.

After wobbling in the second, Whyte showed his strong chin and absorbed some huge hits to the temple as Joshua looked the fitter and fresher of the two fighters, despite Whyte landing a few important punches of his own.

Joshua started to exert his superiority as the fight entered the sixth and seventh rounds, and Joshua disposed off his opponent in ruthless fashion, stalking him to the ropes and connecting with a savage uppercut to send Whyte crashing to the canvas in a heap.

Despite clamour for Joshua to take on newly-crowned heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who recently defeated Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, Joshua’s next opponent is likely to be compatriot and former world title challenger Dereck Chisora, who knocked out Croatian journeyman Jakov Gospic on the same bill.