March 28, 2024

Joshua V Klitschko IBF, WBC & IBO World Heavyweight Title
Matchroom Boxing Promotions
29th April 2017
Wembley Arena
London, England

TV
UK – Sky Sports PPV
USA – Showtime (Only Main Event) & HBO,
Germany – RTL,
Australia – Main Event,
New Zealand – Sky Arena,
Hungary – Sport 1,
Argentina TyC Sports

 

Anthony Joshua ‘AJ’ 18 (18 KO’s)-0-0 V Wladimir Klitschko ‘Dr Steelhammer’ 64 (53 KO’s)-4-0

Anthony Joshua is aiming to make a statement on Saturday night in the same manner as a young Mike Tyson announced his pedigree in 1986 against Trevor Berbick, this fight will either confirm the hyped up reputation is 100% real or confirm the questions marks over his legitimacy of holding a World Title belt.

On paper this is the toughest opponent he will have faced to date but at the same time if he wins in a fashion that isn’t expected like by going the distance and on points he will be lambasted due to Klitschkos age, length of time outside the ring and there will be accusations that his opponent is well past his prime so realistically this is a lose-lose situation for Anthony but it is a fight he had to take due to Klitschkos dominance of the Heavyweight division over eleven years from 2004 to 2015.

This fight at Wembley Stadium will have a record 90,000 in attendance when it takes place on Saturday 29th April 2017 but it will only equal the British record already in place which was for a contest from 1939 at White City in London where Len Harvey, a three weight British Title Holder fought to defend his British Heavyweight Title against Welshman Jack Stevenson.

This fight is probably the biggest hyped British Heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis fought Evander Holyfield in 1999, a nation is waiting an expecting their hero to come through it with flying colours and announce his readiness to take over the Heavyweight division. AJ is aiming to be the best British Heavyweight since Lennox Lewis when he held three off the four recognised belts (WBC, WBA & IBF) and a win here against Klitschko could see a potential title fight in late summer 2017 against WBC Champion Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas or WBO Champion Joseph Parker in London.

This is the second fight were AJ will have Robert McCraken in his corner, he knows McCraken from his time with the Olympic British team and the last time McCraken had a fighter at Wembley he was in the corner of Carl Froch when he knocked out George Groves in front of 80,000 people, so maybe that could be a good omen.

 

Wladimir Klitschko is a man on a mission who is aiming to make himself relevant in the Heavyweight Boxing scene again after his shock defeat to Tyson Fury seventeen months ago, before that he was practically unbeatable as it was eleven years when he last lost to Lamon Brewster.

Three off the four defeats Klitschko has succumb to have been way of a Technical Knockout and when he found the formula to fight to his strengths and not expose his chin he went on an amazing winning run until he let the mind games of Tyson Fury affect him but unfortunately for him he fought at a time when the Heavyweight division wasn’t at its best so although he had twenty one fights unbeaten, he only beat good or great fighters and not legendary classed fighters like the ones who fought in the eighties or seventies. From that list of names he beat on that winning run the only names that jump out are David Haye, Alexander Povetkin and Kubrat Pulev and this is the reason he will never be classed as one of the greats and it will somewhat tarnish his legacy so maybe a win here will help regain some credibility to his record.

The time Klitschko ruled over the Heavyweight division has been described as the worst time in the history of Boxing, as he isn’t a showman, he isn’t there to entertain you, he is there to do a job and that is to win but for me personally that goes against everything boxing is about, if I am paying to see two gladiators going into battle I want to be entertained, I want to see excitement and I want to get value for money otherwise what is the point of going in to watch it in the first place.

Yes people will say he has great ring generalship and he has bags of experience from when he dominated fighters with his size, his jab and his overhand right but we have to remember the man is forty one years old, father time is not waiting around for anyone and added to the fact he is facing a confident young lion who has wandered into the Serengeti plain looking to take over the mantel from the aging King.

I believe the truth is although Klitschko hasn’t fought a fighter with the same hunger, power and speed as AJ and added to the fact he won’t be able to bully his opponent around the ring like some of his other contests we have to remember he has a lot of confidence in his own ability, he isn’t fazed fighting an unbeaten fighter given the fact that in the unbeaten run he did it ten times, and he is so meticulous when it comes to working out a strategic plan to the very last detail so if manages to make AJ fight the fight he has planned there is no reason why he can’t win this fight and remember some times that old King lion sees off the young upstart pretender to the throne.

Other fighters appearing on the card are as follows: 

Scott Quigg V Viorel Simion
IBF World Featherweight Eliminator Fight

Luke Campbell V Darleys Perez
WBA World Lightweight Eliminator Fight

Katie Taylor V Nina Meinke
WBA Inter-Continental Lightweight Championship

Lawrence Okolie V Russell Henshaw
Cruiserweight Fight

Josh Kelly V Faheem Khan
Super Welterweight Fight

Joe CordinaSergej Vib
Super Featherweight Fight