Wembley wipe-out?

KO SPECIALIST JOSHUA COULD END KLITSCHKO’S CAREER Former champion has not been in a ring for 17 months.

Heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko meet tonight in a bout which pits the young and seemingly invincible champion against the ageing 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 two fighters upwards of £10 million each.

Joshua, 27, has shown no signs of strain in dealing with the scale of tonight’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 medallist. “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 keep the pace,” Joshua said. “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 since before World War II.

“Don’t get me wrong, 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.

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 seven.

The Ukrainian was last seen in a ring when outboxed 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 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.

Klitschko did not downplay the task in front of him, saying: “I’ve never seen AJ (Joshua) as big as he is right now. He is as big as Arnold Schwarzenegger at his best.” – AFP

Kwese TV has secured exclusive broadcast rights in Africa for tonight’s fight and will stream the bout live on their app at kwese.com.