Anthony Joshua defended his world heavyweight titles with a seventh round stoppage of Alexander Povetkin at Wembley on Saturday night.
It was far from the walk in the park which some had predicted the fight would be. The opening rounds were anxious ones for those supporting Joshua.
That included for his promoter Eddie Hearn.
"After that first round my bumhole was all over the place," Hearn told iFL TV after the fight.
Povetkin was the mandatory challenger. One Hearn called a "Stinker of a mandatory. You're never going to fight Povetkin as a voluntary, are you?'
Hearn revealed that Joshua had a far from ideal preparation for the fight.
It's been a horrific camp. There's been injuries and he's even had the flu all week. Even this week I'm thinking, 'This is not meant to be'. I wake up this morning with it pissing down with rain.
I get in the changing room, he's put his glove on, the thumb's gone. This is three minutes before the walk-on. He's changing the glove, putting it back on, re-taping it. I'm just thinking, 'This is destined to go wrong'.
Hearn continued:
"Then in the ring he's so relaxed. I just want to say to him, 'switch on now'. I'm just thinking, 'Is he relaxed or just not with it?'
"I knew how tough this fight would be for him, regardless of his mindset. Povetkin is one of the best heavyweights in the world. They come absolutely desperate to win.
"It's hard to talk about a learning fight in front of 80,000 people like this but he is learning.
"That was such a good, composed performance. Yeah, he got hit a bit too much but just look the way he broke him down to the body, tired him out. Look at the finish! What a finish!"
You can watch Eddie Hearn speaking to iFL TV below.
