This Saturday Sees Joshua vs Klitschko in London – This Saturday night, April 29th sees longtime heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko return to the ring at 41 years old to face England’s undefeated Anthony Joshua at cavernous Wembley Stadium. in London.
Throughout the better part of the 21st century, Wladimir Klitschko has been the dominant heavyweight boxer on the planet, going 64-4 overall while unifying most of the major heavyweight belts. His reign with the IBF heavyweight title that Joshua now holds was over a decade and rates as one of the longest in heavyweight history. Though sometimes labeled boring, Klitschko delivered over 50 KOs in his long career.
But his reign came to an end in November of 2015 when he faced England’s Tyson Fury in Germany. Fury toppled the long reigning Klitschko from the underdog position, using a carefully planned strategy to frustrate Klitschko that worked to a “T.” For Klitschko the script would have read that he would be fighting a re-match with Fury, but that was not to be. Fury’s well publicized fall from grace was seized on by promoter Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua to fast track their plans to win the world heavyweight title and it is now Joshua that Klitschko will face.
The fight has the feel of a “passing of the torch” from the older champion to the new, young gun.
This didn’t happen in the case of Fury’s win over Klitschko mainly because of Fury. Fury not only fought a cautious and smart game plan which was ultimately led to the performance being deemed boring and lackluster, his down fall came very publicly and once he was stripped everyone was ready to move on into the future of the heavyweight division.
Except Klitschko, who still wanted to fight despite not being able to face Fury and avenge his loss. He watched as Joshua fought unheralded Charles Martin to win the IBF belt, propelling the young British gold medalist into the upper stratosphere of today’s heavyweight division.
Joshua won the belt against martin then defended it against Eric Molina and Dominic Breazeale, which is not exactly front line competition. Joshua has faced criticism for a soft ride on the way up but all that will go away if he is able to hand Klitschko a decisive loss come Saturday night.
Wembley Stadium sold out 90,000 seats in less than one day for this fight which should tell you the magnitude of what we are about to see. And what is exciting for the heavyweight division is that Joshua represents a truly fresh face at the top of a division that has been considered stale throughout Klitschko’s long reign. Joshua has the “next big thing” written all over him, he can seal the deal come Saturday night.
This Saturday Sees Joshua vs Klitschko in London
Though this is not your typical Eddie Hearn card with 10-12 matches, the under card does see lines at the books for five of the six bouts.
Wembley Stadium – London, England – Showtime, SKY Box Office
Heavyweight 12 rounds –
Wladimir Klitschko +220 o8½ +100
Anthony Joshua -260 u8½ -120
Featherweight 12 rounds –
Viorel Simion +1300 o9½ -330
Scott Quigg -2150 u9½ +270
Lightweight 12 rounds –
Darleys Perez +360 o9½ +105
Luke Campbell -450 u9½ -125
Lightweight 10 rounds –
Nina Meinke +1600 o7½ -150
Katie Taylor -3200 u7½ +130
Cruiserweight 4 rounds –
Russ Henshaw +3000
Lawrence Okolie -7000
Welterweight 4 rounds –
Faheem Khan +3000
Josh Kelly -7000
This Saturday Sees Joshua vs Klitschko in London / Check out more boxing news and features at The Sweet Science, where the best boxing writers write.
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