Joshua vs Povetkin - as it happened: Anthony Joshua wins by seventh round TKO in devastating finish before revealing he wants to fight Deontay Wilder next

Anthony Joshua faces Alexander Povetkin in what the British champion has described as the "second hardest fight" of his professional career.​ Povetkin, the mandatory challenger to the WBA title, has the potential to become Russia's first ever unified world heavyweight champion, with Joshua's IBF, WBO and IBO straps on the line too.

The 39-year-old has lost just one of his 35 fights, a points defeat to the great Wladimir Klitschko in October 2013. Since then he has won eight consecutive fights, including a knockout victory over David Price on the Joshua-Parker undercard. Ominously, he has never been stopped.

Meanwhile, Joshua will be looking to extend his flawless professional record to 22-0 in his third fight at Wembley. 

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17:01

Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin!

 

We'll have everything from the undercard to the main event press conferences, so strap in and stay tuned for live updates throughout the entire evening and probably even the early hours of the morning.

17:20

If you're literally only aware of Joshua vs Povetkin on this bill, you're certainly not going to be the only person.

 

Here's what the rest of the undercard is looking like for the evening ahead:

 

Luke Campbell vs Yvan Mendy (WBC lightweight world title final eliminator)

Matty Askin vs Lawrence Okolie (British cruiserweight title)

Sergey Kuzmin vs David Price (WBA intercontinental heavyweight title)

Shakhram Giyasov vs Julio Laguna (welterweight contest)

Dana Zaxo vs Tony Bilic (light heavyweight contest)

Chris Kongo vs Petar Alexandrov (welterweight contest)

17:36

This will probably be your final opportunity to get some reading in on this man before it all kicks off tonight.

 

Lawrence Okolie is a story.

 

From flipping burgers to Wembley walkouts: The rise and rise of Lawrence Okolie

19:20

David Price retires on his stool after four rounds! 

 

After having his bicep iced, his trainer decided to pull him out of the fight and it's a win for Sergey Kuzmin, remains undefeated after 14 fights.

 

A disappointing end for the Liverpudlian.

19:23

"I've had a slight tear in the bicep the last few weeks," Price said. "We had to take the fight, and take a chance.

"At the end of the fourth round, it was barely movable. 

"It's really frustrating. I would love the opportunity to fight him again with the right preparation."

Price faces Povetkin

 

19:27

A frustrating end to the night for David Price

 

Price retired on his stool

 

19:28

Up next is Matty Askin against British Olympian Lawrence Okolie! 

 

The cruiserweight belt is on the line in this one, with challenger Okolie the favourite to walk away with the strap.

19:34

Lawrence Okolie makes his way to the ring! This one could be fight of the night and will be getting underway shortly.

19:36

Current champion Matty Askin now making his way in. We'll have round by round coverage.

19:41

The big man has arrived! 

 

19:45

Okolie's reach advantage playing a big part so far. As always with the former Olympian, it was untidy but it looks as though he's taken the first round.

19:55

Povetkin has arrived at Wembley!

 

The WBA mandatory has a gigantic task on his hands against the 6 ft 6 Joshua this evening.

 

20:02

With just a couple of fights left on the night, there are still tens of thousands of empty seats in the stadium.

 

They're expected to fill out over the next couple of hours, but it's looking a tiny bit bleak right now.

20:18

After nine rounds of a scheduled 12, this fight between Okolie and Askin has been... poor.

 

You thought Okolie's bout against Isaac Chamberlain at the O2 was bad? This is even worse. Fight of the night contender turns to surely the worst fight of the year.

 

There's still a little bit to go, but the style of the two fighters is just making this a difficult watch for spectators everywhere.

20:19

The pair trade blows.

 

 

20:31

After 12 rounds of boxing, the final bell rings and every single spectator in the stadium boos.

 

We await the scorecards...

20:32

Carl Froch's scorecard has it 115-11 to Okolie, but we'll see what the judges have to say shortly.

20:34

116-110

114-112

114-113

 

By unanimous decision, Lawrence Okolie is the new cruiserweight champion! An expected and fairly comfortable win in the end.

 

 

20:38

Next up is Luke Campbell against Yvan Mendy.

 

This one has a little bit of history, the 33-year-old previously defeated Campbell in 2015 - a fight that has spurred Campbell onto winning six of his seven fights since.

 

The winner of this will become mandatory to the WBC lightweight world title.

 

12 rounds coming up shortly. Let's hope it's better than what we just witnessed.

20:47

Both men are in the ring and we're close to getting this one underway.

 

The co-main event is moments away.

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