Everything is supersized in big heavyweight title fight Saturday
LONDON — Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko drew the kind of crowd for their final news conference that most fighters would be happy with once they got in the ring.
Everything is supersized in their heavyweight title fight, including the fighters themselves.
The two big — and big punching — heavyweights meet Saturday night in England’s national stadium, where some 90,000 fans are expected to watch the most anticipated heavyweight fight in more than a decade. Most will be screaming for Joshua, but the loudest voice may be that of Klitschko’s brother, Vitali, in his corner.
“My prediction is that Wladimir will knock him out,” said Vitali Klitschko, a former three-time heavyweight champion himself who is now the mayor of Kiev in his native Ukraine. “I’ve never seen my brother so confident, and Joshua doesn’t know he’ll be fighting against two fighters — Wladimir and myself.”
Unfortunately for Klitschko, there will be no tag team match as he enters the ring an underdog for the first time of his career. He also enters it without a title belt for the first time in more than a decade after losing to Tyson Fury in his last fight in 2015.
And, of course, he enters it seen as a villain by English fans who are hoping for Joshua to have the kind of heavyweight reign Klitschko has enjoyed — if not even better.
Joshua’s popularity in his native country was evident Thursday at the news conference in the Sky Sports building, where hundreds of employees left their desks to line the balconies and stairwells to get a glimpse of the two fighters. The fight quickly sold out Wembley Stadium when announced and will be on pay-per-view in England as well as both HBO and Showtime in the United States.