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.
It could turn out to be the same way with Wladimir Klitschko, his manager Bernd Boente explained to Sky Sports. 41 year old former heavyweight king Klitschko can begin a whole new reign if he beats Anthony Joshua for the WBA and IBF belts a week on Saturday. And Boente says that in no way is Klitschko looking at the April 29 fight as his last.
“If you’re 41 years old, you can’t expect that someone is fighting for another ten years, but he always said that Bernard Hopkins is one of his idols – and you know how long Bernard fought,” Boente said. “I don’t know if Wladimir will stil l fight at 50, but one thing is for sure, he’s not looking at this as his last fight. For the last five or six years, Wladimir has never discussed how long he fights. It’s fight by fight and then he makes a decision.”
So, if Klitschko looks like a million bucks and takes out Joshua, we can expect “Dr. Steel Hammer” to box on; for a while at least. But if Klitschko loses to Joshua, by KO or stoppage especially, then what? Surely all the talk of fighting on to age 50 and of emulating Hopkins would disappear.
The April 29 fight is all about how much Klitschko has left; and after that poor showing against Tyson Fury 17 long months ago, we do not know what’s left in the tank. Joshua’s comparative lack of experience is also a factor, but the big talking point in this fight is Klitschko’s age – even though Wladimir says that to him, age is just a number.
