Former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko today began his training camp for his massive 90,000 sell-out fight with IBF ruler Anthony Joshua. The fight, just under two months away, will contest the WBA belt as well as Joshua’s IBF strap and Klitschko told The Daily Mail that he is “obsessed” with reclaiming two of his old belts and of redeeming himself for letting himself down against Tyson Fury in November of 2015.
Klitschko wrote on social media that he is happy to be back in training, preparing for the April 29 fight.
“Team Klitschko arrived at camp. I am happy to get back to work and start preparing for the battle,” Klitschko wrote on Instagram.
Klitschko also revealed how he has written down his pre-fight prediction and placed it inside a sealed envelope to be opened only after the Wembley fight is history. Klitschko is quietly confident he will get the win next month (but all the same, it will be interesting to see if the envelope gets opened if Wladimir loses to AJ!).
Klitschko has of course seen and done it all before and he can be expected to emerge from his Austrian training camp in great physical condition. Much has been made of Klitschko’s age, as he will turn 41 later this month and will, against Joshua, be facing a man almost 15 years his junior. But the competitor inside “Dr. Steel Hammer” is not yet ready to admit the end has arrived. Klitschko himself sees the upcoming fight as a battle between youth and experience.
Which will triumph? How much has Klitschko got left? How fascinating it would be to take a look inside that envelope! For his part, Joshua recently said in an interview with GQ Magazine that he has “a feeling” he will score a KO win on April 29. Let’s hope both men enjoy a successful and productive training camp and that there are no injuries picked up by either man. This fight needs to go ahead on schedule.