The sport to which all other sports aspire.

I don’t know who said that about boxing but I can’t help but agree. It’s sporting competition stripped down to its hardest and most basic and I’ve loved it ever since I can remember. I watched Ali, Frazier and Foreman in the 70s; then Leonard, Hagler and Hearns in the 80s, awed by their courage, skill and physical nobility. The world felt that awe again last night when Britain’s Anthony Joshua beat Wladimir Klitschko for the World Heavyweight title in a thrilling encounter in front of 90,000 people at Wembley Stadium. If boxing is the sport to which other sports aspire, this was the fight to which other fights aspire. Stunning. This morning AJ must be feeling on top of the world. Funny how one man knocking ten bells out of another has made so many other people feel that way too?