AFTER just 21 fights, Anthony Joshua is a three-belt world heavyweight boxing champion.

    He finally knows what it’s like to go 12 rounds, too.

    Frustrated by the movement of Joseph Parker and the irritating interventions of inexperienced referee Giuseppe Quartarone, Joshua required a decision by the judges to add the WBO belt to his WBA and IBF titles.

    It was never in doubt, with two judges awarding it to Joshua 118-110 and the other making it 119-109. It was Parker’s first loss in 25 fights, and Joshua’s 21st straight win.

    “I was switched on, focused and went 12 rounds. It was light work,” said Joshua, after a mature, patient but hardly headline-grabbing performance.

    “This was about boxing finesse. I stuck to my word.”

    All 20 of Joshua’s previous wins came via knockout — and only two had gone beyond seven rounds.

    But, thanks to Parker’s reactions and counterattacking skills, one of the sport’s biggest punchers barely landed a clean shot with his big right hand.

    Quartarone didn’t help, either, constantly getting between the two fighters and stopping the flow of the contest. There were boos at the final bell from many in the crowd of 78,000 inside Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, seemingly aimed at the Italian referee who was taking charge of his first world heavyweight title fight.

    “Ref seemed too hurried to break them up at times,” tweeted former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. “But it was a clear win for AJ and he showed maturity and patience.”

    Joshua moved to within one win of matching Lewis’ achievement of cleaning up the sport’s most glamorous division.

    Big-punching American Deontay Wilder holds the other main heavyweight belt, the WBC’s, and could meet Joshua before the end of 2018.

    “Wilder, let’s go baby,” Joshua screamed in his interview inside the ring. He wants to stay in Britain to complete the set.

    “I’m not interested in coming to America,” Joshua said. “We are staying right here.”

    Neither Joshua nor Parker came close to getting knocked down, showing respect for each other’s undefeated records. 

    (SD-Agencies)