For those of us who love the history of World Heavyweight Boxing, from Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield through to Lennox Lewis, it's been a barren spell.
It's been a era through no fault of their own dominated by the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladamir, who never fought each other professionally and dominated the sport for a decade.
Tyson Fury hinted that the end was nigh for the Klitschko era with his victory over Wladamir in 2015, but Fury then lost his boxing licence amid personal problems, and that's allowed Joshua to break through.
2012 Olympic champion Joshua overcame an early life on the wrong side of the tracks and a brush with criminality before boxing saved him. He learned his lessons, got his act together and dedicated himself to the sport. He is under the management of the Hearns, Barry and Eddie, who have done a great job of promoting the sport in the UK.
A crowd of 90,000 at Wembley was the biggest for a heavyweight bout in 90 years.
And if Boxing saved Joshua, he may just have saved Boxing. The Klitschko fight was epic, a reminder of the golden age of the 1970s, as Joshua sent his opponent to the canvas in round 5, before being on the receiving end of the Ukrainian's force a round later. Great champions are able to summon another level, and that's what Joshua did in round 11, knocking down Klitschko before unleashing a flurry of explosions to engineer a stoppage.
27 year old Joshua is a humble, chess playing fighter who is very close to his mother. The former bricklayer hasn't forgotten his roots and is a role model for those who wish to choose a better path in life.
At 6 foot 6 and 250 pounds, he is a natural specimen for this heavyweight game, and the world literally is his oyster with the cities, crowds and purses he can now attract. He deserved his big feed after his win! You can check out the fight on You Tube below.
No table etiquette I'm hungry 😆 pic.twitter.com/asdMIpdWWk
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) May 1, 2017
