I thought Joshua would not get up- Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko who  lost to Anthony Joshua on Saturday in their World Heavyweight boxing title fight has revealed that he didn’t expect his opponent to get up after he knocked him down.

Britain’s Anthony Joshua (R) throws a punch at Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko during the ninth round of their IBF, IBO and WBA, world Heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium in north west London on April 29, 2017. / AFP

The Ukrainian sent Joshua crashing in the sixth round before succumbing to his firepower in the eleventh. Speaking in an interview with BBC, Klitschko said “I thought he wouldn’t get up but he managed to get up, and from that moment I kind of felt that he was out of gas and concentration and he recovered through the rounds.

“I think I could have done more to finish him up maybe, right after he went down but I was pretty sure that this was going to be my last so I took my time.

 “I’ve always been a fan of AJ’s style and since we met in sparring sessions in Austria, I think that today actually he beat me and he won the fight shows that he has these qualities. How he is going to develop it we’ll see. I think that he is vulnerable and this is something he will need to work on.

 “He is Unified Champion today so we have to respect it, we have to however show up. So I think he was trying, he did what he was supposed to do, defend his title and got that right.

 The 41-year old has not stated if he will retire or continue with the sport after the loss. Anthony Joshua is yet to lose a fight in his career, winning all 19 of his boxing matches.