Happy is different than entertained, however, as the action was stunted at best and glacial at worst as Joshua swept the later rounds to pull away on most cards, although the judges predictably had Joshua ahead more than most observers, although to be fair, most of the first six rounds were close (also known as boring and dull with little to choose from) enough to not argue with which fighter that you saw winning.
I watched it one and a half times (I watched the first six rounds over) and I scored Joshua 116-112 live and 118-110 on a second watching.
It was just plain dull and there is plenty to be said for winning this one and look good the next one, but still, this slow bout combined with Deontay Wilder's victory over Luis Ortiz suddenly has some people thinking Wilder has a chance against Joshua that would not have thought so before this fight.
I still think Wilder's chin isn't great and I think he'll fight Joshua off his back foot more than as an attacker, but off this performance by Joshua, I can at least understand that belief, if not agree with it.
I suppose the part of the match that surprised me was Deontay Wilder's reaction and screaming after the fight that Parker was robbed.
Delusion is not always able to be understood...
I'm not sure if Joshua-Wilder happens next unless some things are worked out with their respective management and the sanctioning bodies, but one idea that would allow Joshua to debut in America, Wilder to perhaps draw a crowd, knock out some mandatories and even regain some excitement lost from today's fight would be a doubleheader in the summer with Joshua defending against Povetkin and Wilder against Dillian Whyte.
It seems to check all the boxes and makes a lot of sense, which likely why I'm doubtful it would be a finished deal.
In boxing, no sense makes sense.
In the semi-main, a predictable result occurred when Alexander Povetkin delivered a spectacular knockout of David Price in the fifth round.
Povetkin dropped Price in the third, but Price rallied back to drive Povetkin back into the corner in what was ruled a knockdown as the corner held Povetkin up.
Povetkin is the number one contender for both the WBA and WBO, so Eddie Hearn (promoter of Anthony Joshua) is going to have to either deal with Povetkin physically in a title defense or financially to pay step-aside dollars for Joshua to face Wilder (or anyone else) next time out.
Povetkin can crack with the best of the division and is a dangerous fight, but also one with danger for any promoter with his PED history that makes you nervous about the status of the fight all the way until the fighters enter the ring.
As for David Price, it's too bad that his chin is made of melted cheese because he otherwise looks the part of a contender.
Tall, rangy, punches pretty well, Price reminds you of what a British heavyweight used to be (Frank Bruno, Richard Dunn, Brian London etc) with his lack of punch resistance.
David Price either needs to step aside or be matched as a special attraction against fighters that aren't a big threat (think of how Butterbean Esch was scheduled or for you wrestling historians- Giant Baba of All Japan in his later years) to his health, because continuing to place David Price against any of type of contender is going to wind up hurting Price badly.
I didn't see the other two fights on the card and in the boxing challenge
Ryan Burnett retained his WBA bantamweight belt with a unanimous decision over Yonfrez Parejao and Anthony Crolla won a unanimous decision over Edson Ramirez in a lightweight fight.
In the boxing challenge, I scored eight points to Ramon Malpica's six on the day to boost my lead to 56-43.
I scored two points each in all four fights with Ramon scoring two points each for wins by Ryan Burnett and Anthony Crolla with one each for the heavyweight wins of Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin.
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