My prediction for Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko came fairly late compared to most fights. The fight simply raised so many questions upon which it was difficult to make an informed choice as to who would win. My biggest question was just how good Anthony Joshua actually is. Although after last night’s heavyweight barnstormer, we now know that he’s the real deal.
As the fight neared, my doubts for a Joshua victory incrementally grew. I wasn’t buying the smoke and mirrors narrative that Eddie Hearn and Sky generated because it was based on Joshua defeating fighters like Charles Martin. That wasn’t a slight against Joshua but merely a fact that Joshua hadn’t fought anyone upon which to gauge how good he was.
In contrast, Klitschko looked more focused than ever and as an experienced fighter who didn’t need the money as an intrinsic motivator, he clearly believed he could win having seen a chink in Joshua’s arsenal that he could exploit. Consequently, I hesitantly went with a Klitschko victory by stoppage in the mid to late rounds but to his credit, and in more ways than one, Joshua proved me wrong.
The tactics and developments of the fight largely played out how I anticipated. I expected both fighters to be fairly gun shy in the opening rounds before Joshua would try to steamroll Klitschko; relying on his power to stop the Ukrainian but getting gassed in the process. And in the fifth round that’s exactly what happened with Joshua unloading a barrage of his signature bombs that put Klitschko on the canvas.
Klitschko, who’s always been perceived as chinny from earlier in this career, managed to get up and showed he could indeed take Joshua’s power. He returned to put a spent Joshua on his backside in the sixth with a stunning knockdown. An exhausted Joshua, exacerbated by him coming in at a career heaviest to presumably bolster his power for a stoppage, was taking a shellacking and experience was now trumping youth.
I thought it was now over for Joshua as the fight continued to play out largely as I had predicted. He was now in uncharted waters, being on the receiving end of such punishment and unable to answer back with anything meaningful, and I expected the referee to stop the fight or for Klitschko to take matters into his own hands. He looked punch drunk after the knockdown. His corner must have been concerned and I wouldn’t have been surprised if Eddie Hearn soiled himself as his cash cow was on the verge of defeat.
Though somehow Joshua managed to survive. If we didn’t know if he had heart and survival instincts before, there was no doubt based on the sixth round. But this was also the round where Klitschko’s experience perhaps lost the fight for him. Where a greener fighter would have probably emptied the tank having smelt blood and gambled on seizing a brutal stoppage, Klitschko didn’t succumb to the temptation to take a risk in such a high stakes fight. Yet had he, he may have seen the W.
Klitschko continued to play the long game in subsequent rounds but neither fighter disappointed. For a 41 year old who hadn’t been in the ring since November 2015, Klitschko showed no signs of ring rust or age. Similarly, any doubts over Joshua’s ability at this level were banished. We always knew Joshua could dish out punishment but now we knew he could withstand it too.
In the 11th, Joshua, maybe sensing urgency, showed that he’d carried his power throughout the fight despite what were a gruelling previous ten rounds for both fighters. To have power is one thing, but to maintain it in a fight like this shows true mettle that Joshua has never had to prove. Coming out from the bell, he looked to take Klitschko out and was seemingly willing to empty the tank yet again to achieve it. It was a gamble worth taking and after Klitschko met the canvas twice, a further onslaught saw the referee stopping the fight. Youth and power had trumped experience and delivered Joshua to a deserved victory.
What was probably the biggest surprise was that the fight was truly a humdinger of a bout. Klitschko has been responsible for many a borefest that has characterised heavyweight boxing as a division void of the glamour and hype of yesteryear while Joshua has been largely in routine fights that excited only the casuals and frustrated the boxing fraternity. Both fighters were therefore unlikely players in a thrilling act that has restored the excitement that should be inherent to heavyweight boxing as the pinnacle of the hurt business.
We cannot doubt the heart, power, chin and resilience of either fighter and there is absolutely no shame in Klitschko’s defeat. Indeed, for yesterday’s performance, I rate him more now than I did for the bulk of his career.
Similarly, Joshua has answered the question of how good he is. He survived a tear up with a future hall of famer who wasn’t past it either and came out victorious in a manner that I didn’t foresee.
Joshua is still being built as a fighter and would have learned an abundance in this fight (and arguably implemented some of that within the second half). Against explosive and predatory fighters like Deontay Wilder or David Haye, Joshua wouldn’t have been granted the respite Klitschko gave him by not pursuing the knockout in the sixth round and upon smelling blood, both would have pounced with the ferociousness of a savage lion upon its prey.
Wilder and Haye will have been watching realising that while Joshua is dangerous, he is vulnerable with a less-than-granite chin and can be hurt and even put down. Tyson Fury too, who Joshua called out post-fight, would present an awkwardness that would test Joshua as it did Klitschko. Nevertheless, Joshua isn’t just a heavy puncher, we now know he’s also a fighter who’s willing and able to go in the trenches and come out fighting.
The fight will be fuel for the Joshua hype train driven by Sky and Matchroom and boarded by those who’ll continue to make irksome and sycophantic comparisons to Muhammed Ali and other legends. Though right now, Joshua is at the top of the heavyweight tree and deservedly so. A rematch clause was included in the contract but at 41 and after a tough fight, will Klitschko want it?
Before the fight many questions were asked. Subsequently, many answers have been provided. We saw two unlikely warriors banish the doubts that have characterised their respective careers thus far and instead putting on a performance that will contribute to their legacies as great fighters.
As the fight neared, my doubts for a Joshua victory incrementally grew. I wasn’t buying the smoke and mirrors narrative that Eddie Hearn and Sky generated because it was based on Joshua defeating fighters like Charles Martin. That wasn’t a slight against Joshua but merely a fact that Joshua hadn’t fought anyone upon which to gauge how good he was.
In contrast, Klitschko looked more focused than ever and as an experienced fighter who didn’t need the money as an intrinsic motivator, he clearly believed he could win having seen a chink in Joshua’s arsenal that he could exploit. Consequently, I hesitantly went with a Klitschko victory by stoppage in the mid to late rounds but to his credit, and in more ways than one, Joshua proved me wrong.
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Klitschko, who’s always been perceived as chinny from earlier in this career, managed to get up and showed he could indeed take Joshua’s power. He returned to put a spent Joshua on his backside in the sixth with a stunning knockdown. An exhausted Joshua, exacerbated by him coming in at a career heaviest to presumably bolster his power for a stoppage, was taking a shellacking and experience was now trumping youth.
I thought it was now over for Joshua as the fight continued to play out largely as I had predicted. He was now in uncharted waters, being on the receiving end of such punishment and unable to answer back with anything meaningful, and I expected the referee to stop the fight or for Klitschko to take matters into his own hands. He looked punch drunk after the knockdown. His corner must have been concerned and I wouldn’t have been surprised if Eddie Hearn soiled himself as his cash cow was on the verge of defeat.
Though somehow Joshua managed to survive. If we didn’t know if he had heart and survival instincts before, there was no doubt based on the sixth round. But this was also the round where Klitschko’s experience perhaps lost the fight for him. Where a greener fighter would have probably emptied the tank having smelt blood and gambled on seizing a brutal stoppage, Klitschko didn’t succumb to the temptation to take a risk in such a high stakes fight. Yet had he, he may have seen the W.
Klitschko continued to play the long game in subsequent rounds but neither fighter disappointed. For a 41 year old who hadn’t been in the ring since November 2015, Klitschko showed no signs of ring rust or age. Similarly, any doubts over Joshua’s ability at this level were banished. We always knew Joshua could dish out punishment but now we knew he could withstand it too.
In the 11th, Joshua, maybe sensing urgency, showed that he’d carried his power throughout the fight despite what were a gruelling previous ten rounds for both fighters. To have power is one thing, but to maintain it in a fight like this shows true mettle that Joshua has never had to prove. Coming out from the bell, he looked to take Klitschko out and was seemingly willing to empty the tank yet again to achieve it. It was a gamble worth taking and after Klitschko met the canvas twice, a further onslaught saw the referee stopping the fight. Youth and power had trumped experience and delivered Joshua to a deserved victory.
What was probably the biggest surprise was that the fight was truly a humdinger of a bout. Klitschko has been responsible for many a borefest that has characterised heavyweight boxing as a division void of the glamour and hype of yesteryear while Joshua has been largely in routine fights that excited only the casuals and frustrated the boxing fraternity. Both fighters were therefore unlikely players in a thrilling act that has restored the excitement that should be inherent to heavyweight boxing as the pinnacle of the hurt business.
We cannot doubt the heart, power, chin and resilience of either fighter and there is absolutely no shame in Klitschko’s defeat. Indeed, for yesterday’s performance, I rate him more now than I did for the bulk of his career.
Similarly, Joshua has answered the question of how good he is. He survived a tear up with a future hall of famer who wasn’t past it either and came out victorious in a manner that I didn’t foresee.
Joshua is still being built as a fighter and would have learned an abundance in this fight (and arguably implemented some of that within the second half). Against explosive and predatory fighters like Deontay Wilder or David Haye, Joshua wouldn’t have been granted the respite Klitschko gave him by not pursuing the knockout in the sixth round and upon smelling blood, both would have pounced with the ferociousness of a savage lion upon its prey.
Wilder and Haye will have been watching realising that while Joshua is dangerous, he is vulnerable with a less-than-granite chin and can be hurt and even put down. Tyson Fury too, who Joshua called out post-fight, would present an awkwardness that would test Joshua as it did Klitschko. Nevertheless, Joshua isn’t just a heavy puncher, we now know he’s also a fighter who’s willing and able to go in the trenches and come out fighting.
The fight will be fuel for the Joshua hype train driven by Sky and Matchroom and boarded by those who’ll continue to make irksome and sycophantic comparisons to Muhammed Ali and other legends. Though right now, Joshua is at the top of the heavyweight tree and deservedly so. A rematch clause was included in the contract but at 41 and after a tough fight, will Klitschko want it?
Before the fight many questions were asked. Subsequently, many answers have been provided. We saw two unlikely warriors banish the doubts that have characterised their respective careers thus far and instead putting on a performance that will contribute to their legacies as great fighters.
