Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale: Winner, Recap and Reaction

IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua ran his record to 17-0 with 17 KOs with a thunderous seventh-round stoppage victory over Dominic Breazeale (17-1) on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London. 

Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole had a great description of the fight: 

Breazeale was as tough as nails, but ultimately he was no match for the chiseled champion. If pressed to define Joshua's advantage in this bout with one word, the choice would be speed.

The 26-year-old Olympic gold medalist from the 2012 London Games was the rabbit, while Breazeale was the tortoise. However, there was a twist to this parable.

In this story, the hare had a hammering right hand and bludgeoned the tortoise with it until his shell gave out and he was stopped in the seventh round. 

Joshua couldn't miss Breazeale, who had minimal head and foot movement. The 6'7" American did a good job of covering up, but there were times during the fight when he seemed to react seconds after the punch had already connected on his face.

The speed disparity was that pronounced.

To Breazeale's credit, he absorbed shots that most of Joshua's opponents had succumbed to much earlier than the seventh round in previous fights. Still, he had nothing of consequence to threaten the champion.

When the fight was over, per the Showtime broadcast, Joshua said he had his sights set on the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko bout. However, Fury's ankle injury has postponed that fight.

Joshua's next choice seems to be highly touted and undefeated 24-year-old Joseph Parker, who happens to be the champion's mandatory challenger. The two men have seemingly been on a collision course for the past two years as both climbed the heavyweight ranks.

That would be an intriguing fight.

An even more interesting one could be a unification bout between Joshua and WBC champion Deontay Wilder. The latter was in the United States offering analysis on the fight for Showtime.

Both fighters have a contract with the network; therefore, it seems like a logical fight to make soon—provided Wilder beats Chris Arreola on July 16. Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix seems to agree:

No matter who Joshua's next opponent is, the champ did what most expected of him on Saturday. You can't ask much more of him than that.