Joshua, Klitschko in heavyweight battle of ages
LONDON: Heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko meet Saturday in a bout, which pits the young and seemingly invincible champion against the aging and deposed former title-holder.
The Briton’s International Boxing Federation title and the vacant World Boxing Association belt will be disputed in the most significant heavyweight fight ever to be held in Britain, which will reportedly earn the pair upwards of £10 million ($13 million, 12 million euros) each.
Joshua, 27, has shown no signs of strain in dealing with the scale of Saturday’s bout.
A crowd of over 90,000 — Britain’s largest attendance for a boxing event since 1939 — is expected at London’s Wembley Stadium, with millions more watching on television in over 140 countries
“It’s a military mindset,” said Joshua, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist. “I’m a fighter. I’m not caught up with the entertainment.”
Joshua does not even see this as being the most important fight he will ever have.
“I don’t think so, because it won’t be the end of my career,” he explained.
“When he (Klitschko) gets beat that could be the end of him, that’s why it could be defining for him.”
Joshua believes he will be too young and sharp for his 41-year-old opponent, who has not boxed for 17 months.
“He will probably start fast because he won’t be able to keepp the pace,”p , Joshua
Jsaid. “Father Time is something no one can deny. Father Time is genetic.”
Meanwhile England-born Joshua, whose parents are from Nigeria, said he would be able to cope with the biggest crowd seen in British boxing for decades. “Don’t g get me wrong, g, all of us face nerves when we fight and this is a stage I haven’t faced before, the attention, amount of people,” said Joshua, who has knocked out all 18 of his professional opponents.
“But when it boils down to it, you get lost in the fight. I don’t think it becomes an issue that there are so many people there, once you are well engaged with your opponent,” he explained.
Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) is fighting to show he is not finished after turning professional in 1996 following his Olympic gold medal success earlier that year when Joshua was aged seven.
The Ukrainian was last seen in a ring when out-boxed in a defeat by Joshua’s compatriot Tyson Fury, which ended his reign as champion of nine-and-a-half years, in November 2015.
Klitschko, who saw Fury twice pull out of a re-match, is banking on his greater experience being a decisive factor. While Joshua has never been beyond seven rounds, Klitschko has been 12 rounds nine times.
“Experience is something that you cannot buy in a shop, you gain it over the years,” Klitschko said.