Anthony Joshua has brought the magic back to the heavyweight division, writes GARY LEMKE.

Boxing needed this. A sport that has battled with the rise of Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC that it has spawned, the ‘Noble Art’ has struggled in recent years to generate much excitement.

The ‘Fight of the Century’ between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio in 2015 was supposed to return boxing to the front of the queue: the toughest sport in the business and where the men are quickly separated from the boys. It fizzled out to a boring, perhaps predictable, 12-round points verdict and the fans and outsiders looking on felt let down.

Boxing’s strength is defined by its heavyweights, but despite the Klitschko brothers dominating it for the past decade, and splinter world title belts shared around by the less skilled, the marquee division has been moribund. Even when Tyson Fury upset Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, the excitement was lukewarm. Fury himself hasn’t fought since, having gone into a personal downward spiral.

Klitschko, now 41, has indeed fought only once since losing to Fury. But, what a fight it was – and he played a full role in launching Joshua’s career to stardom.

Born Anthony Oluwafemu Olaseni Joshua, ‘AJ’ as he is nicknamed, could have represented Nigeria or Ireland, but instead he grew up in humble surroundings in Watford outside London, and chose to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics. Boxing took him off the streets and kept him out of jail after run-ins with the law, including being found with marijuana in his sports bag – while he was wearing the Team GB tracksuit.

The rest is hysteria.

Joshua won the super-heavyweight gold medal in London and turned professional in 2013. He racked up 18 wins, all by stoppage, before squaring off against Klitschko in front of 90,000 rabid fans at the famous Wembley Stadium.

By getting up off the canvas in the sixth round, after himself having dropped the Ukrainian in the fifth, Joshua put to bed any criticism that he might end up as yet another ‘horizontal British heavyweight’. It was the first time he’d been truly tested and he showed a heart as big as Wembley Stadium itself.

Leading on two of the three scorecards entering the penultimate 11th round – I had them level at that stage – Joshua seized the moment. A right uppercut almost took Klitschko’s head off his shoulders and the fantastic image made all the front pages of Sunday’s print media. The referee rightly saved the veteran from more punishment, and Joshua had passed the biggest test of his career.

He is, understandably, being compared to the heavyweight greats, but we have to remember that he beat a 41-year-old who hadn’t fought in 17 months since losing to Fury – although Klitschko turned up in superby physical condition and was up for the contest.

We also have to remember that Klitschko was knocked out in 2003 by our own Corrie Sanders, so he is no stranger to hitting the canvas, although it’s been 10 years since that last happened. Yet, in that period he has also been fed a diet of tomato cans.

However, this was one of boxing’s great nights and one of the great heavyweight contests. It was a war between two absolute gentlemen who didn’t trash talk, but shared immense mutual respect, and both entered and left the ring with dignity and class.

Joshua now can cherry-pick who he wants to fight – although Klitschko has a rematch clause in the contract, should he want to travel down the painful road again – but the tragedy is that there remains a paucity of good heavyweights. The next decade belongs to the Brit, if he wants it.

Joshua answered most of the questions around him. He is the real deal, a man mountain with a huge heart. How would he have fared against someone like Mike Tyson, is probably a fair question. The answer is, like any when comparing eras, we won’t ever know. A personal belief is that a 20-year-old Tyson would have walked through Joshua and knocked him out. A 30-year-old Tyson would have himself been knocked out clean by Joshua.

But, this is now Joshua’s time. Ignore the hype of the British media who will quickly elevate him to one of the greatest sportsmen ever to have represented that country, because boxing is a cruel and demanding sport and the 27-year-old is only starting out on this next phase of his career.

Yet, let’s celebrate a spectacular fight and give credit to both warriors. This was a fight for the ages. Not as good as Marvin Hagler dismantling Tommy Hearns in three rounds, but as good as any heavyweight title fight we have seen this 21st century.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBuQwSirlag