British heavyweight Anthony Joshua (6-0, 6 KO’s) took two mammoth left hooks from 38-year-old Matt Legg (7-3, 3 KO’s) before knocking him out in the 1st round with a right hand uppercut on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London, UK. Joshua came out looking kind of stiff over-muscled and while he was plodding forward, Legg smashed a left hook to the head of Joshua that send him reeling from the shot.
The crowd roared as if there might be an upset in the process. But Joshua fired back with a flurry of punches that got Legg to back off. But Legg was able to hit Joshua with another big left hook to the head that snapped his back. Joshua took the punch well, and he came forward to hit Legg with a right uppercut to drop him. Legg tried his best to get up from the knockdown, but the referee counted to 10 and the fight was stopped.
Joshua’s Promoter Eddie Hearn was on hand in the ring after the fight, and he said that Joshua will be fighting 47-year-old Matt Skelton next on July 12th in Liverpool. This will be a step up fight for the 6’6” Joshua.
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Jamie McDonnell (24-2-1, 11 KO’s) put in an impressive performance in defeating Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat (52-3, 34 KO’s) by a 10th round TKO to win the vacant WBA bantamweight title. McDonnell hit Na Rachawat with a left hook that sent him down for the count.
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Kevin Mitchell (38-2, 28 KO’s) came back in the 11th round to stop Ghislain Maduma (16-1, 10 KO’s) in their IBF lightweight eliminator. Mitchell was behind in the fight coming into the 11th and needing something special to get the win. He hurt Maduma with a right hand to the head. Moments later, Mitchell nailed Maduma with a right hand that sent Maduma staggering into the ropes. The referee ruled it a knockdown due to the ropes keeping Maduma up. Mitchell then knocked Maduma down with a short right hand to the head. Maduma got up but while he was being checked out by referee Phil Edwards, he staggered. That was enough for the fight to be stopped.
Mitchell is now the IBF lightweight mandatory challenger to IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez. Mitchell’s promoter Eddie Hearn said after the fight that he’ll be looking to make the Mitchell-Vazquez bout next for him.
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James DeGale (19-1, 13 KO’s) took advantage of some sloppy defensive work from Brandon Gonzales (18-1-1, 10 KO’s) on the inside to stop him in the 4th round in their IBF super middleweight eliminator fight. Gonzales got dropped a barrage of punches from DeGale in the 4th round. It was a final left hand that put Gonzales down. Gonzales got back to his feet but he continued to get hit. Finally after getting nailed by a jarring left hand, Gonzales initiated a clinch. Moments later the fight was stopped without Gonzales getting hit. It was a questionable stoppage, as Gonzales looked like he was collecting himself and recovering from the knockdown.
The victory now makes DeGale the IBF super middleweight mandatory challenger. He’ll be fighting the winner of tonight’s fight between Carl Froch and George Groves.
