Anthony Joshua retains IBF heavyweight title with 7-round destruction of Dominic Breazeale

Anthony Joshua looks a lot like the future face of boxing.

He's good looking. Charismatic. Possesses the physique of a body builder.

Oh, and he can fight pretty well, too.

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist made the first defense of his IBF heavyweight title Saturday in London, and made it look easy with a seven-round stoppage of Dominic Breazeale.

Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) laid a beating on Breazeale, a former Olympian, from the opening bell and it was never remotely competitive. Brezeale (17-1, 15 KOs) showed a ton of heart, though, and somehow made it to the seventh round before he was dropped twice and left in a heap, his face a crimson mask, as referee Howard Foster didn't bother to count and waved the fight off at 1:01.

"Well, it's hard because you can see they're hurt with every shot - well not every shot - but when you start catching them flush, they can feel the shots with these ten ounce gloves on," Joshua said. "So, it's just a matter of time, but in the process I didn't want to be receiving any haymakers on the way back.

"It's been tough I had two weeks off after my last fight, and got straight back in the gym so it was tough. I get a nice little break for once and then I can come back with recharged batteries."

The CompuBox numbers for the Showtime-televised fight were astonishing: Joshua connected on 166 punches; Breazeale landed just 38.

Joshua, a 26-year-old Brit, said afterward that he would love to face fellow titleholders Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in the future. First up, though, is likely to be Joseph Parker, an up-and-coming heavy from New Zealand.

"Unbelievable, inspirational person," Joshua said of Wilder, who was an in-studio guest. "He was patient, 30-odd fights (and) got his hands on the WBC (belt). I'm following suit. I'm making my way into the U.S. with Showtime backing me as well. So, he watched that.

"He can pick up whatever he wants to pick up from that, but it's so different when you're in the ring with each other. So one day we'll get to experience what each other's about."

Joshua won the title with a second-round knockout of Charles Martin in April. Breazeale, a 30-year-old from Glendale, Calif., was coming off a career-best win over Amir Mansour.

(Photo of Joshua, right, and Breazeale by EPA/SEAN DEMPSEY)