Wladimir Klitschko has teased us before about the possibility of him being in the mood to make a comeback, yet nothing came off. The former heavyweight king was offered a big deal with DAZN a couple of years or so ago – the mega-money deal to culminate with a return fight with Anthony Joshua – but Wladimir turned the offer down. But now, fans are talking possible comeback all over again, this due to a short sparring video “Dr. Steel Hammer” has uploaded on his intagram page.
And the added text has really got fans thinking possible ring return.
Wladimir Klitschko back sparring at age 45…
[📽️ @Klitschko] pic.twitter.com/CISXJaMxXJ
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) December 14, 2021
“Challenge accepted,” Wladimir added to one of his sparring photos. And the words, “This time: Keep On Punching – literally.”
So is Wladimir – who doesn’t seem to be too much above his fighting weight, if he is above it at all – plotting a comeback, or is he merely staying in shape and having a little fun, both in the gym and at our expense? At age 45 (46 in March), the younger Klitschko brother is, in theory, young enough to be able to launch a ring return. There would be no need of a long camp to shift excess weight, and maybe Wladimir has kept his timing and his sharpness in decent order since his last fight; this of course the slugfest with Anthony Joshua in April of 2017.
Klitschko, 64-5(53) showed a lot in the loss to AJ, and it is possible he could come back and wipe out a secondary titleholder. But would that be enough? Klitschko has spoken in the past of the challenge of breaking George Foreman’s record as the oldest heavyweight champion ever (Foreman was 45 when he won it back, this by taking out Michael Moorer in November of 1994), and maybe this shot at history is what motivates him to want to do it again. Maybe.
We live in an age where the appearance of one short video on social media can get literally millions of people talking. But never mind about will Klitschko come back, the big question is, should he come back?
Yes he should. Hes looked after himself and with modern supplements, 45 isnt what it use to be, more like 35.
Joshua, Fury and Wilder will be too much but he could be competitive against Parker, Whyte, Ruiz if they win a title
No. But if there was a Klitschko to climb in the ring again, I’d rather see Vitali fight, who was the better of the two. Vitali was beating Lennox Lewis until he got horrible cut by the exposed laces on Lennox’ gloves and the fight soon thereafter stopped. Vitali was the real deal.
Well belts are in his home country and by saying challenge accepted I think is taking about Usyk if Usyk gets through Joshua next fight