Anthony Joshua Defends His IBF World Heavyweight Title Against Dominic Breazeale

Fresh off winning his IBF world heavyweight title against Charles Martin in April, Anthony "AJ" Joshua defended his belt for the first time on Saturday night, defeating the durable-but-limited Dominic "Trouble" Breazeale.

Breazeale's nickname proved poetic as he was troubled for all seven rounds of the fight, before suffering two knockdowns in the seventh round which prompted the referee to call a stop to the fight.

The unbeaten American was incredibly game throughout and largely wore whatever Joshua threw at him, which is more than what you could say of Martin. But, the damage endured eventually wore. As good as his ability to weather the storm was, Breazeale's offensive output was lacking to say the least—he was rendered a glorified human punching bag.

The UK's Olympic gold medalist looked in fine form for much of the fight. But, one criticism you could level at Joshua was that he was looking to load up on big punches too much after first troubling his counterpart—abandoning the combinations that had rendered his opponent in a state of shock in the first place.

He may have not suffered a loss until now, but Breazeale's toughness was the only positive you could attribute to his performance on Saturday night. But, Trouble was knocked down and was behind on the scorecards in his previous fight against an aging Amir Mansour. But, Mansour was forced to retire early after suffering from breathing problems. Not the most stellar competition for a world heavyweight champion.

As impressive as Joshua looked, it's still hard to tell how ready the Brit is to take on top-tier heavyweight competition despite his undoubted talent. Immediately after the fight was over, rivals such as WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder—who promptly called Joshua out—and British rival Tyson Fury were suggested as future opponents.

However, at this stage, we aren't able to decipher whether it would be unwise for Joshua to jump straight into a fight with relatively battle-hardened heavyweight veterans like the two mentioned above.

Joshua's mandatory IBF challenger is fellow prospect Joseph Parker and while that would be an interesting fight between two of the most celebrated heavyweight talents out there, this fight is hardly one to set the world alight and inform us of the true extent of Joshua's present capabilities to compete in the big title unification bouts boxing fans are clamoring for. Meanwhile, big Scouse heavyweight David Price is another likely option that would sell well in the UK.

Either way, it looks like AJ will be taking some time to mull over his options, telling Sky Sports: "It's been tough. I only had two weeks off after my last fight and got straight back in the gym. I can have a nice little break for once and come back with recharged batteries."

Promoter Eddie Hearn agreed. "He needs a long rest. He needs to go and be a young boy, go and sit on the beach with his mates and mess around. It's been absolutely relentless."

Hearn, however, did provide some insight as to who is the likely candidate set to be Joshua's next foe for a mooted date in November. "We like the Joseph Parker fight, that's the mandatory and we'll have to deal with that at some point. That's a good fight."

It was a routine Saturday night for Joshua as he dispatched of his opponent with consummate ease. But, as a world heavyweight champion, there are only so many Breazeales and Martins you can face when you're meant to be king of boxing's most celebrated weight class.

Unbeaten Kiwi Parker would be a step up in competition, but we're still far from knowing the true extent of Joshua's talents in its present form.