Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko
Tickets to the fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko sold out in mere minutes and on Saturday 90,000 fans will pack Wembley Stadium to watch it go down. It could be a passing of the torch as the 27-year-old Joshua looks to put the 41-year-old Klitschko out to pasture. The fight is scheduled to go 12 rounds from the heavyweight division and Joshua's IBF title will be on the line as will a vacant WBA title. In a surprise move the fight will air on both Showtime and HBO, however, Showtime got the better deal because they will air it live in the afternoon will HBO will show a replay later that night.
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| Joshua dropping Eric Molina |
Above all else Joshua is a power puncher as evidence by the fact that all of his professional wins have come before the final bell sounded. Joshua is an athletic heavyweight who does a nice job of keeping his right hand at home to protect his chin. He has a stiff jab he will change speeds on and will bring an accurate straight right hand behind it, a punch he likes to stick to the belly. Joshua also has a nice left hook and he puts his punches together well but his right hand is the punch he scores most of his knockouts with. He will throw the right as a straight punch from the outside but in the pocket will also throw a chopping right hand and opponents also have to worry about uppercuts that often land clean.
Joshua really exploded onto the scene a few years ago and has now climbed his way to being one of the best and most exciting heavyweights in the sport. Every single one of his 18 wins have come via the knockout and he has never even had to go deeper than seven rounds. He has impressive wins over contenders Dillian Whyte, Charles Martin, and Dominic Breazeale and really the only fight where he looked vulnerable was early against Whyte. If Klitschko can take Joshua into deep waters Joshua may drown because he has never been there before. However, that seems unlikely considering Joshua is always in such great shape. For Joshua though a fight against Klitschko will without a doubt be the biggest of his young career.
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| Klitschko trying to smother Tyson Fury's punch |
In his last fight, a loss to Tyson Fury, Klitschko looked every bit his age. He couldn't pull the trigger and looked reluctant to exchange. Against Joshua he can't afford to do that again. At his best Klitschko has one of the best jabs in the sport, landing like a telephone pole. He is an orthodox fighter who likes to jab, clinch, and then punch on the inside with his off hand. Klitschko has power in both hands and can drop opponents with his short left hook or massive straight right hand. However, defensively he is vulnerable and has been knocked out three times in his four career losses.
Klitschko's career began way back in 1996 but he hasn't fought since 2015 when he lost to Fury in an unwatchable fight. Three of his four fights before the Fury bout came against undefeated fighters though and Bryant Jennings, Kubrat Pulev, and Alexander Povetkin were all easily handled by "Dr. Steelhammer." Father time has never lost though and the aging Klitschko will have to fight him as well as Joshua. If he fights like he did against Fury this could be a quick night for the former champion but Joshua is still very green so no one should be surprised if the old pro gives the upstart a lesson.
How this fight plays out depends solely on Klitschko. Against Fury he looked extremely reluctant to even throw a punch and he was never able to get going. Klitschko has never been a joy to watch but that fight was abysmal. If he is still reluctant to let his hands go we could see him to just jab and clinch, but mostly clinch while he tries to survive. Yet if he actually lets his hands go look for him to try to control Joshua with his jab and catch him coming in with heavy right hands. For Joshua he should look to test Klitschko early. The veteran has never had a good chin and Joshua is a huge puncher who can end any fight with a single punch. It will be interesting to see what happens if Joshua can't dispatch Klitschko early and has to go to the deep waters, a place he's never been before.
PREDICTION: Father time has never lost a fight and his unbeaten streak will continue on Saturday night. Wladimir Klitschko will make things ugly at the start but eventually Anthony Joshua will get going and really start to touch Klitschko up. In the later rounds the older fighter will eat too many clean punches and while he may not be counted out he will be stopped by Joshua in the 10th round, keeping Joshua's perfect record intact.
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