Anthony Joshua retained his IBF, IBO and WBA heavyweight titles with a 10th-round stoppage of Carlos Takam in Cardiff on this day in 2017.

Returning for the first time since his victory over Wladimir Klitschko, the then 28-year-old Joshua wore down his little-known French opponent – an injury replacement for Kubrat Pulev – with his advantage in size, muscle, speed and power to retain his undefeated record.

In front of a world-record indoor fight crowd of an estimated 76,000 inside the Principality Stadium, many thought Joshua would back up his famous win over Klitschko with another routine victory, but it was far from it as he was tested in one of his toughest fights to date.

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Joshua came into the fight over a stone heavier than Takam, weighing in at a career-heaviest 18st 2lb against his 16st 11lb opponent, and made much of his significant size advantage before he appeared to suffer a broken nose in the second round.

Joshua put Takam to the canvas in the fourth round and the latter was examined by the ringside doctor in the next after a significant cut appeared to open up by his left eye, an injury that would affect Takam throughout the fight.

The wound was looked at once again in the ninth round and the expected stoppage finally arrived after one minute and 34 seconds of round 10, but there were boos from the crowd, as many thought the fight was stopped too early.

Asked about the decision, Joshua said: “It was a good fight. I have no interest with what’s going on with the officials, that’s not my job.

“Unfortunately, the ref stopped it. I think people wanted to see Takam on the floor and I was getting there.”

Joshua went on to add the WBO belt with victory over Joseph Parker and successfully defend his titles against Alexander Povetkin before a shock loss to Andy Ruiz in June 2019 at Madison Square Garden.

Though he beat Ruiz in a rematch and followed up with a knockout of Pulev, back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk left Joshua needing to rebuild his career at the top level.

David Haye came up short in his attempt to unify the heavyweight division as he was beaten on points by Wladimir Klitschko in Germany on this day in 2011.

Bidding to take the IBF and WBO belts from Klitschko to add to his own WBA title, Haye failed to make much of an impression in what was a much-hyped fight in Hamburg and claimed he had broken a toe after the match.

The judges scored the bout 117-109, 118-108 and 116-110 all in favour of ‘Dr Steelhammer’, handing Klitschko an easy victory after 12 rounds on a rainy night at the Imtech Arena.

In the pre-match build-up, Haye called Klitschko a “fraud” and “not tough enough” and claimed the Ukrainian looked “beaten and broken” before he even stepped into the ring for “the biggest fight in boxing”.

The then 30-year-old had predicted a straightforward win inside the distance but the outcome was far from it as German-based Klitschko outboxed his opponent in a highly-professional performance.

Haye previously spoke of retiring in glory before he turned 31 but defeat ended those dreams and was a disappointment to the 10,000 Britons in the 45,000 crowd.

Haye said after the match: “I broke my toe on my right foot.

“I couldn’t push off the right foot to throw the right hand.

“I thought adrenaline would get me through it but it was tough. It’s incredibly frustrating.”

Tyson Fury issued a warning to Cristiano Ronaldo, insisting "no matter who you are, age will get you eventually".

The Portugal captain, who entered the World Cup fresh from his acrimonious departure from Manchester United, has scored just once in four appearances in Qatar.

That goal came from the penalty spot against Ghana in his nation's opening match.

Having been criticised by head coach Fernando Santos for his reaction to being substituted during the Group H clash with South Korea, Ronaldo was then dropped for Portugal's comprehensive 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the last 16.

After being left out of the starting line-up, A Selecao have subsequently strongly denied reports the 37-year-old threatened to quit the squad during what is likely to be his swansong at the finals.

Fury - the WBC heavyweight champion and a lifelong United fan - insisted he empathises with Ronaldo, who he feels is no longer at the peak of his powers.

The undefeated boxer drew comparisons with his iconic victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. 

"At the time, beating Klitschko was the Everest," Fury told talkSPORT. 

"I was the heavy underdog, people thought I was going to get smashed to pieces, and he was the unified champion for 11 years and at some point, he thought he was unbeatable.

"But I went over to Germany and beat him. In this game, it's not about how much better somebody is than the other person.

"A lot of it has to do with natural stuff, like age, and at 38 years old, you are on the decline - whether you want to admit it or not.

"If you look at Cristiano Ronaldo, he's 37 years old, he's had the best doctors, the best physiotherapists - he's lived like an egg in Mr Kipling's cake.

"But even Ronaldo is on the slide now.

"So even someone who has looked after himself like that, it catches up to you - so, imagine a boxer who has been punched to pieces for the last 20 years!

"The age factor will not wait for anybody, no matter how you've lived. 

"Whether you've never had a drink in your life, if you've never run on any hard surfaces, no matter who you are, age will get you eventually."

Ronaldo will hope to be reinstated to the starting line-up when Portugal face Morocco in the quarter-finals on Saturday, with his team aiming to reach the semi-finals for only the third time.

Tyson Fury has promised he would go to war for England as he praised those attempting to defend Ukraine from Russia's invasion.

The British heavyweight vowed to follow the lead of the likes of brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko and Oleksandr Usyk if his homeland issues a call to arms.

WBC champion Fury said he would be "first in line" if civilians were to be conscripted.

Vitali Klitschko is mayor of Kyiv, while his brother and fellow former world heavyweight champion Wladimir has joined a territorial defense brigade. Usyk, a reigning world heavyweight champion, has also signed up, as has fellow star boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Fury said in a news conference on Tuesday: "Fantastic. I'll be the first one to join up if England get involved or America. I'll be first in line for the job.

"My dad will as well, me and all the boys will be signing up to defend. So that's what I've got to say.

"If you're from that country and living there, defend it. Love your woman and fight for your country, that's what I say."

Fury puts his WBC heavyweight belt on the line against Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium on April 23.

It remains to be seen when the likes of Usyk and Lomachenko become available to resume their sporting careers

Frank Warren, Fury's co-promoter, said: "Everybody should be absolutely pulling for Ukraine, standing up to the bully, standing up for democracy.

"Those four fighters, everybody should be behind them. It's magnificent what they're doing."

Wladimir Klitschko has called on "the entire world" to help stop the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, amid Russia's invasion of the country.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday after weeks of rising political tension. That conflict escalated on Friday and into Saturday, with fighting now reported to have reached the capital, Kyiv.

Wladimir, a two-time heavyweight world champion, and his older brother Vitali, who is the mayor of Kyiv, have both pledged to take up arms to help defend the city and their country.

In a video posted to his official Twitter account on Saturday, Wladimir Klitschko spoke powerfully of the need for more action from other nations.

Heavy sanctions have been placed on Russia by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, though there is no sign of a ceasefire. 

Russian officials have offered to hold peace talks with their Ukrainian counterparts, though only on the condition that Ukraine's army surrenders.

"I'm addressing the entire world, to stop this war that Russia has started," Wladimir Klitschko said in the video. 

"Just today, civilians were shot by the rockets with special operations surveillance getting killed(*), and it's happening in the heart of Europe.

"There's no time to wait, because it's going to bleed into a humanitarian catastrophe.

"You need to act now to stop Russian aggression, with anything you can have now. In an hour, or by tomorrow, it's going to be too late. Please, get into action now. Don't wait, act now, stop this war."

Multiple sportspeople and organisations have called for the end of the conflict, with Russia having been stripped of the Champions League final – initially due to be held in St Petersburg – and the Formula One Russian Grand Prix.

(*) Wladimir Klitschko's claim could not been verified at the time of publication.