Joshua v Parker: How Twitter reacted to the Cardiff fight night

Victory extended the London 2012 Olympic champion’ flawless professional record to 21 wins from as many bouts but all of his previous successes had been by way of knockouts.

Parker took his first defeat in his 25-match career with grace, saying: “Today I got beaten by a better champion, a bigger man”.

Meanwhile, the only belt not currently held by Anthony Joshua now is Wilder’s WBC strap, with the American being lined up for his next fight.

Joshua predicted that if the two were to fight, he’d win by knockout.

And he insisted he felt no disappointment in going 12 rounds. Parker is expected to earn £13 million, far more than the £1 million pocketed by Joshua’s previous opponent, the Cameroonian Carlos Takam.

It was Joshua’s 21st straight win and he added Parker’s WBO belt to his WBA and IBF titles.

It is a fight both the fans – and AJ himself – are desperate to see before the end of the year, although negotiations between the two camps have become increasingly tense in recent months. “I stated boxing finesse and I stuck to my word”.

There is a rematch clause for the fight, but Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said that would not be happening. That particular matchup is slated to be one of the biggest heavyweight fights of all time, and could very well take place sometime next year in Joshua’s home of England.

Wilder’s promoter Shelly Finkel pre-empted an impending visit by Joshua and his team for talks in the USA by announcing: ‘We want to make it clear that Deontay is pleased that Joshua has said he wants the fight and that we will be willing for it to take place in London next’. “Forget the hype, I’m about business, let’s get the business done”.

“Well, look, I don’t know”.

“I will go back, train hard and come back stronger”. Anthony Joshua is hands down the best heavyweight on the planet! My grand momma always told me, baby, if you don’t have say something nice to say, then baby, don’t say anything at all’.

“When the ref came to the back, he couldn’t speak English”, Parker said. Had a few skirmishes developed, a few more brawls, anything could have happened.

Parker’s trainer, Kevin Barry, agreed.

“Unfortunately for us, the referee just didn’t allow us to do that”.