Two-years in the making, BBC One reveals an Anthony Joshua previously unseen by the public in the feature documentary “Anthony Joshua: The Road To Klitschko” in which viewers get unprecedented access to the fighter, at home and in training, before and after fights, starting with his clash against fellow Brit Dillian Whyte almost two years ago. As he continues to ward off competition, viewers will be privy to the preparation for his imminent encounter with Wladimir Klitschko – a defining fight on Joshua’s journey towards heavyweight unification; a battle that’s anything but easy: this was Anthony Joshua’s biggest test yet.
The fight took place today in London, in front of a loud 90,000 strong crowd at Wembley Stadium. The 27-year-old Joshua survived the first knockdown of his young career, coming back to finally take down Klitschko twice before stopping him in the 11th round to defended his heavyweight titles, winning for the 19th time in as many fights in a bout that is said to have lived up to its billing as the best heavyweight fight in more than a decade.
Prior to tonight’s fight, Joshua had held the IBF heavyweight title since 2016, having previously held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur he represented Britain at the 2012 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division; he also represented England at the 2011 World Championships, winning silver. As of February 2017, Joshua is ranked as the world’s best heavyweight by BoxRec, second by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and fifth best by The Ring magazine. After tonight’s win, his Transnational and Ring Magazine rankings will likely improve.
Joshua is the second British boxer, after James DeGale, to win both a gold medal at the Olympics and a world title by a major professional sanctioning body, as well as being the first British heavyweight to do so. He is also the second boxer, after Joe Frazier, to win a world heavyweight title whilst still reigning as Olympic champion at the top weight.
For the BBC One feature documentary “Anthony Joshua: The Road To Klitschko,” Alison Kirkham, Controller of Factual Commissioning and Events, said: “This revealing documentary shares the untold story of the commitment it takes to become the very best. Anthony Joshua has granted BBC One viewers unparalleled access into his life, training and pre-fight prep.”
Tony Pastor, Executive Producer, Goalhanger films says: “We’ve spent two years filming with Anthony and it’s been a brilliant insight into the life of a modern sportsman as he masters his trade. When we first discussed this project with him he was a long way from being world champion, but meeting Anthony, and watching those early fights, convinced me he was going to become a superstar and we wanted to film his progress to the top.’’
Narrated by filmmaker and actor Noel Clark, “Anthony Joshua: The Road To Klitschko” is made by Goalhanger films for BBC One.
The one-off documentary which premiered on BBC One on Tuesday April 25, is now online. Watch it in full below, split up into 2 parts.