Wladimir Klitschko boxing news
Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko came face-to-face on Thursday at the sprawling Sky Headquarters in London as the two 6-foot-6 giants participated in a final press conference for Saturday’s blockbuster heavyweight world championship event.
SHOWTIME will televise the fight LIVE at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT from sold-out Wembley Stadium where a record-setting 90,000 fans are expected to be in attendance.
Is former long-reigning heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko one fight away from retirement or is the 41 year old one fight and one win away from becoming a three-time king with a rejuvenated career?
There is simply everything on the line for Klitschko this Saturday night in London as he challenges IBF ruler Anthony Joshua (the WBA heavyweight belt to also be at stake) and perhaps this is why Wladimir is calling the fight his “biggest challenge.” Klitschko, 64-4(53) has faced some big hurdles throughout his long career (he seriously considered calling it a day after Lamon Brewster shocked him in that quite bizarre fight back in 2004) and he has beaten some quality fighters – does Klitschko really feel Joshua, an unproven quantity in many departments, is the biggest challenge of his career?
Klitschko Vs Joshua – A Few Thoughts.
There has been a lot written and said about the upcoming Anthony Joshua Vs Wladimir Klitschko fight. Some have said this is a “passing of the torch” fight, others that Joshua will finally become the name he should be, some have even suggested that this is when Klitschko cements his ATG status.
The ringwalks for Saturday’s Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko heavyweight blockbuster event are set for 4:35 p.m. ET/1:35 p.m. PT with the first bell scheduled for 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT from Wembley Stadium in London.
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING pre-fight coverage begins LIVE on SHOWTIME at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT with interviews with Joshua and Klitschko, exclusive, in-depth features and live coverage of the grand pre-fight pageantry at Britain’s largest stadium. National anthem performers and musical guests will be announced later this week.
American Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder hosted a media conference call to give his thoughts on Saturday’s heavyweight blockbuster between undefeated IBF Champion Anthony Joshua and long-reigning kingpin Wladimir Klitschko live on SHOWTIME® (4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT) from sold-out Wembley Stadium in London.
Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs), who won his WBC belt in January 2015 on SHOWTIME and has since made five defenses, will serve as an analyst for Sky Sports Box Office for Joshua vs. Klitschko.
The officials have been confirmed for this Saturday’s huge, 90,000 sell-out heavyweight collision between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. There is plenty on the line in this fight – the biggest heavyweight fight in British boxing history – and a strong third man in the ring will be needed.
The fight will have a very experienced referee in David Fields of New Jersey. Having worked over 200 fights – including bouts with big names such as Bernard Hopkins, Sergey Kovalev, Shawn Porter and Yuriorkis Gamboa to name just a few – Fields, a big guy, should not be at all out of his depth working the WBA/IBF heavyweight title fight; even if he has not worked too many heavyweight fights before.
There really could be quite a throng of heavyweight greatness, either past, present or future, at Wembley on April 29 (a week today as if any heavyweight fan needed reminding!). Wladimir Klitschko, himself a future Hall of Famer, will of course fight Anthony Joshua, the next heavyweight great in the opinion of quite a few people, and two WBC heavyweight rulers, one past one current, have confirmed their attendance.
Deontay Wilder will be there, scouting his possible next opponent, and Vitali Klitschko – for some people the superior fighting Klitschko brother – will also be in the house, assisting his younger brother. Vitali, taking a break from his political duties in Kyiv, will be close to his brother as “Dr. Steel Hammer” attempts to take both the IBF and the WBA belts next week.
If he manages to defeat Wladimir Klitschko a week tomorrow, Anthony Joshua will add the WBA belt to the IBF crown he already holds – but he might find it impossible to keep hold of both belts for long. As his promoter Eddie Hearn explained to The Star, a victorious Joshua is extremely likely to be ordered to defend the IBF belt against Kubrat Pulev, and the WBA belt against Luis Ortiz.
So, unless “a deal can be done,” Hearn says Joshua is going to lose one of the belts he will exit a rocking Wembley Stadium with if he’s victorious on April 29. More alphabet soup madness, or two good fighters getting what they have worked for and fully deserve? Take your pick, but it really does seem next to impossible for any heavyweight to become undisputed king these days.
How shocked would you be if the big April 29 heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko got postponed due to an injury on the part of one of the fighters? This is just what former, undefeated heavyweight champ Tyson Fury has come out and said he thinks will happen.
Legendary Father Time-conqueror Bernard Hopkins never, ever said he planned to fight on until the age of 51 – at one point he actually promised his mother he would quit the ring at the age of 40 – it just happened that way. Going fight by fight, Hopkins realised he had it in him to keep going.