Soon after 10pm in London on Saturday night, Anthony Joshua will meet Wladimir Klitschko in an incredibly interesting heavyweight match up to contest the IBF world title that is held by the former and the WBA and IBO belts which are vacant.
But forget draining the alphabet soup of titles for this one, because the real fascination in the clash between these two former Olympians is in the questions that only Wembley Stadium can answer on 29th April.
William Hill, sponsor of Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko, is predicting the global betting industry turnover could reach £100 million (£20 million in the UK alone) for Saturday’s eagerly awaited world heavyweight showdown.
British sporting icon and current IBF world champion Joshua is the 4/9 favourite to win the fight – and in the process add the vacant WBA and IBO titles to his collection. AJ, who won Olympic gold at London 2012, has enjoyed a perfect start to his professional career with 18 wins from 18 fight – all coming by way of knockout. Unsurprisingly, William Hill are offering short odds of 8/13 for the Londoner to knockout Kitschko at Wembley Stadium.
https://youtu.be/YZ-Z5fWOL-A
Official Weights from London:
Anthony Joshua: 250.1 lbs.
Wladimir Klitschko: 240.5 lbs.
The heavyweight world championship bout between undefeated champion Anthony Joshua and long-reigning kingpin Wladimir Klitschko is the most significant heavyweight fight in more than a decade. SHOWTIME will televise live at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT from sold-out Wembley Stadium in London.
Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko came face-to-face on Thursday at the sprawling Sky Headquarters in London as the two 6-foot-6 giants participated in a final press conference for Saturday’s blockbuster heavyweight world championship event.
SHOWTIME will televise the fight LIVE at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT from sold-out Wembley Stadium where a record-setting 90,000 fans are expected to be in attendance.
Fighting as the co-main event to Canelo vs. Chavez, Jr., Former IBF Middleweight Champion David Lemieux (37-3, 33 KOs) makes quick return to the ring after spectacular knockout over Curtis Stevens in March to face tough Middleweight Contender Marco “Dorado” Reyes (35-4, 26 KOs) on May 6 at T-Mobile Arena, live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
It took quite a while, a few months in fact; but Australian puncher Jeff Horn finally came face to face with superstar Manny Pacquiao yesterday (Australian time). The two met at the press conference to officially announce the July 2 fight that will see Pac Man defend his WBO welterweight title against the unbeaten, and much younger Horn.
The two had nothing but respect for one another, smiling as they faced off and posed for media photos. Trash talking is simply not Manny’s style, never has been, while Horn is more the quietly confident type. Pacquiao has told Horn to be “100 percent” on July 2, so the two of them can give the paying fans an exciting fight. This fight, one of, if not the biggest in Australian boxing history, will be explosive; so said promoter Bob Arum, who added how the American fans and writers are “warming to the fight.”
Maybe it’s because of all the attention this Saturday’s Joshua-Klitschko fight is getting. Maybe it’s because the heavyweight division is as interesting as it’s been in quite a few years. Maybe it’s because he feels he’s the best heavyweight on the planet. Whatever it is, Tyson Fury has made his mind up: he still wants to be a fighter and he wants to regain his past glories.
Fury, out in Marbella training with good friend and reigning WBO middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders, has vowed to shed around 100 pounds (he reportedly ballooned up to somewhere around the 360 pound mark during his 17-month inactive spell) and come back to rule the division again.
Andre Rozier, trainer of newly-crowned WBO Interim World Middleweight Champion Avtandil Khurtsidze, believes his man will ‘beat down’ undefeated Hatfield star Billy Joe Saunders when the pair face-off for the full WBO crown.
Khurtsidze – a short, stocky beast of a boxer – silenced the Leicester Arena crowd on Saturday by heavily flooring Birmingham’s Tommy Langford with a brutal left hand early in the fifth round to secure the vacant Interim strap.
Robert Helenius (24-1, 15 KOs) looked in great shape as he met with the Finnish media today in Helsinki at an open training session ahead of his WBC Silver World Heavyweight title fight against Dereck Chisora (26-7, 18 KOs) on May 27 at the Hartwall Arena.
The 33 year-old from Porvoo holds a controversial points victory over his British rival from their all action showdown in December 2011, but having enhanced his training methods, which today included pounding a heavy bag with a picture of Chisora’s face attached, ‘The Nordic Nightmare’ believes, this time, the decision will be left in no doubt.
Is former long-reigning heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko one fight away from retirement or is the 41 year old one fight and one win away from becoming a three-time king with a rejuvenated career?
There is simply everything on the line for Klitschko this Saturday night in London as he challenges IBF ruler Anthony Joshua (the WBA heavyweight belt to also be at stake) and perhaps this is why Wladimir is calling the fight his “biggest challenge.” Klitschko, 64-4(53) has faced some big hurdles throughout his long career (he seriously considered calling it a day after Lamon Brewster shocked him in that quite bizarre fight back in 2004) and he has beaten some quality fighters – does Klitschko really feel Joshua, an unproven quantity in many departments, is the biggest challenge of his career?