Anthony Joshua was crowed the king of the heavyweight division Saturday live on SHOWTIME as he unified the division with an 11th round TKO of long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko before a record 90,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Joshua, who remains a perfect 19-0 with 19 knockouts, overcame the first knockdown of his career to successfully defend his IBF belt and pick up the vacant WBA title.
Although I have long lined up my bet for the forth coming fight which will see Wladimir Klitschko take upon the formidable Anthony Joshua. I have taken further analysis to uncover how this fight is likely to unfold on the 29th April 2017.
At the time that rumour of the bout filled boxing’s corridors, I was concerned that such a bout would prove rather too early for Joshua to present the highest manifestation of himself on fight night. He remains on a notable path and momentum favours him in the exploits he has undertaken in the last year and half.
The Heavyweight division was once the most coveted division in the sport. After the exit of legendary greats such as Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield and Vitali Klitschko, the division has seen questions raised, yet not all questions answered. The one mainstay with any true legitimacy over that span has been Wladimir Klitschko. An awkward style, heavy on hugs, light on the type of rage and aggression that Heavyweight fans love has left many questioning his true greatness. As Klitschko reaches the latter phase of his career, he faces perhaps the most dynamic force he has ever faced in his illustrious career. As we prepare for this showdown, we take a look at Keys to Victory, Four to Explore, and an Official Prediction.
By all accounts Anthony Joshua is a decent human being, an inordinately wealthy young fighter who hasn’t forgotten his roots and who always makes time for the fans. His recent decision to buy his old amateur coach a new BMW was notable in this regard, though the fact that a film was made and released of him doing so says much about a hype machine which after just 18 professional fights against a hodgepodge of journeymen, domestic-level opposition, and fading contenders, sees the 27 year old IBF heavyweight champion faces a 41 year old Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 fans amid more fanfare than your average royal pageant. It is testament to the timeless words attributed to the great 19th century American showman, P T Barnum: “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
Great fighters from the past told tales of how they received a premonition ahead of a big upcoming fight through a dream – the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson, for example, revealed how, ahead of his tragic fight with Jimmy Doyle, he wanted to pull out of the fight because he had a vision of Doyle’s death – and Manny Pacquiao has done the same thing.
Speaking with The Telegraph, Pac Man said he knew he would lose to Floyd Mayweather and that he also knew he would be KO’d by Juan Manuel Marquez in their final fight. Manny says he received such information through pre-fight dreams
You know it’s a big deal of a heavyweight fight if Mike Tyson is excited by it. And the former champ, the youngest belt-holder in boxing history at the age of just 20, is excited by tonight’s massive Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko clash. The biggest world heavyweight title fight in years, Klitschko-Joshua has captured the attention of just about everyone, “Iron” Mike included.
Speaking with Johnny Nelson of Sky Sports (who was, interestingly, set to fight Tyson in 2000, only for Tyson to fight another Brit in Julius Francis instead) Tyson said he thinks Joshua is a “beast,” who reminds him of the young George Foreman (Foreman of course being another fighter who was close to rumbling with Tyson – the “old” version of “Big” George).
In a heavyweight title fight that pretty much flew largely under the radar outside of the winner’s home country of Bulgaria, IBF NO.1 mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev won a fairly dull, lopsided 12 round unanimous decision over US veteran Kevin Johnson last night. The WBA inter-continental strap was on the line and Pulev, who is in line to face the winner of tonight’s huge Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko fight, retained this with a near shut-out.
The weights are in for tomorrow night’s huge heavyweight title clash between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko, and both men look to be in absolutely fantastic physical condition. This of course is no surprise, but it might have come as a little bit of a surprise that Joshua tipped in at 250 pounds, the heaviest yet of his 18 fight pro career.
Some people felt Joshua, a real man-mountain, would weigh a little more than ex-champ Klitschko, who came in at a solid 240, but perhaps a few eyebrows were raised due to the fact that AJ weighed a full ten pounds heavier than Klitschko. Klitschko looks slim, svelte and trim; maybe the former king, who has said many times he is “obsessed” with regaining his belts, is planning on using speed, speed, speed tomorrow night.
Tony Bellew is no stranger to an out of the ring altercation/slagging match/scuffle, and, truth be told, neither is Deontay Wilder. So it was perhaps inevitable that the two heavyweights (and, yes, Bellew has to be recognised as a legit heavyweight, having beaten former WBA champ David Haye) would get into some sort of argument when they came together at today’s Joshua-Klitschko weigh-in.
And, no, “Bomber” Bellew and “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder did not disappoint! As captured by the film cameras of iFLTV, the two engaged in a real war of words, with security, and a gate, separating them. Bellew seemed to take annoyance to Wilder’s familiar “Bomb Squad” chant, shouting back that “he [Wilder] ain’t no f*****g squad.”
IBF Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua tipped the scale at 250 pounds and long-reigning champ Wladimir Klitschko measured 240 ½ pounds for their heavyweight blockbuster this Saturday live on SHOWTIME (4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT).
The ringwalks are set for 4:35 p.m. ET/1:35 p.m. PT with the first bell scheduled for 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT from sold-out Wembley Stadium where a record-setting 90,000 fans will witness the biggest heavyweight event in over a decade. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® pre-fight coverage begins live on SHOWTIME at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT with all the grand pre-fight pageantry from London.