How Anthony Joshua ‘Nearly Came To Blows’ With Wladimir's Older Brother

Once Anthony Joshua stopped Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round, he nearly came to blows with older brother, Vitali, shortly after his heavyweight dust-up at Wembley Stadium.

Joshua and Klitschko were involved in a heavyweight firefight which included the British fighter rising from the canvas after being floored for the first time in his professional career.

From a disastrous sixth round to putting away the future Hall of Famer in the penultimate round. The instant classic will be etched not just in British boxing history, but in heavyweight history following the thrilling world title bout.

_{(Joshua drops to the canvas after Klitschko lands a thudding right-hand. Image: PA)}

And while everyone speculates on Joshua's next opponent, the unified champion nearly got into another fight immediately after he took care of business a few weekends ago.

That's because the 27-year-old 'nearly came to blows' with Vitali Klitschko. Speaking to Boxing News, promoter Eddie Hearn spoke about his prized fighters confrontation with the former heavyweight champion of the world.

"He [Joshua] will learn [from the fight]. There were little things, in the ring before the fight Vitali was staring at him, then he started staring at Vitali and all that's designed to do is use up energy. You're just using up emotions and he'll learn from that."

_{(Joshua gets his hand raised while parading the IBO, WBA and IBF world titles. Image: PA)}

The Matchroom Boxing bigwig then explains how Joshua reveals his menacing side once he steps foot inside the ring.

"Once he's in that mode, he's a nasty, horrible man in that ring. Outside the ring, one of the nicest guys you could meet, inside it - horrible."

Before detailing how they nearly came to blows.

"He and Vitali nearly came to blows after the fight. He went over to Wladimir and thanked him and Josh was tired and he went on and on, 'seriously man,' talking about the fight, and Vitali was like 'alright, alright' [Hearn stretches his arm across as if pushing someone away] and Josh was like 'f*** you.' But Vitali can handle himself, he's not exactly a pushover."

_{(Wladimir with his brother Vitali following defeat. Image: PA)}

Joshua vs. Big bro Vitali, anyone?!

Vitali has been retired since 2013 after calling time on his illustrious career, while venturing into politics in his native Ukraine.

So that would rule out a potential revenge job, though Wladimir could trigger his rematch clause and do the fight all over again.

(H/T Boxing News)

Topics: Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Wembley Stadium

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Darren Till, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

@https://twitter.com/NasJabbar