Video: Anthony Joshua V Wladimir Klitschko: The Breakdown

By Boxing News - 04/28/2017 - Comments

Image: Video: Anthony Joshua V Wladimir Klitschko: The Breakdown

By Rob Maclean: With just a day to go till the Joshua (18, 0, 18Kos) and Wladimir Kitschko (64, 4, 53Kos) super-fight, it’s prediction time. I waited for after weigh in for this one, as the weigh itself can offer some insight into the tactics for the fight. But the main reason for this article is to hear from you, what you’re thinking? My saying is, “nobody’s right till after the fight” and therefore I want to hear your opinions, below I’ve listed mine.

Starting with the home fighter, Anthony Joshua. He came in at his biggest weight tonight and for good reason, he brings immense power. We’ve seen in Klitschko’s early defeats that he can be vulnerable to power.

I recently went back to watch Wladimir’s 2005 clash with, unbeaten at the time, Samuel Peter. He recently mentioned this fight as a reference for how he can face defeat and go on to win a fight. Peter dropped Wladimir twice in round 5, when all seemed to be going well for the Ukranian. Klitschko escaped the round and managed to go back out and dominate the fight.

It’s almost odd how Klitschko responds to being hurt, in some ways it reminds me of David Price (but in no way am I saying they are similar). It seems Klitschko can take the punch, but then his body reacts and he looks incredibly fatigued and therefore cannot defend himself and thus his opponent takes him out, very much the case in the Lamont Brewster defeat. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a mental thing with Wladimir. After round 5 of the Peter fight he looked the fresher man and easily took the victory, not at all like the shattered holding fighter he was in that round.

If Joshua can get to Klitschko in this way, without doubt he’ll take him out. If Klitschko somehow manages to avoid trouble he could make this a tough fight. Joshua is not Samuel Peter, he’s an Olympic gold medallist, not simply a fighter looking to find that one big shot. He can’t look to fight like that in this fight, he needs to fight his game, use his speed to land shots that demoralize Klitschko. After he lands, albeit Klitschko hasn’t been knocked out since 2004, he’s never fought an opponent like Anthony Joshua before. And if he lands and reacts the way he has before… Joshua will take him out.

Anthony Joshua should look to get to Wladimir in the early rounds, stop him from gaining confidence, don’t let it get into unknown territory. If he sees the chance he should, and likely will take it.

Wladimir on the other hand decided to weigh in lighter. This was the wisest idea for Klitschko because he’s going to need to fight at range, keep light on his feet and keep enough in the tank to take the fight into the later rounds.

The jab could be the most decisive object in this fight. Wladimir has had a lifetime of throwing the jab whereas AJ hasn’t needed it, he broke his opponents down with his hammer back hand. For some reason, you may disagree, but I still believe Wladimir has the best jab I’ve seen in recent history. Maybe Joshua has a better one? We shall see.

Joshua alluded to the fact that he uses his left hand to mask the opponents eye line but also he can use it for his leaping left hook. It was for that reason that Tyson Fury was wary of throwing his right hand, and kept it close to his chin. I remember listening to him between rounds when Peter Fury asked for more work from his right hand, Tyson responded, “it’s that I’m wary of his left hook”. If Joshua looks to land his money right hand, then Klitschko must be thinking that could leave room for his left hook.

Of course, one huge telling point of this fight is, has Klitschko’s 41-year-old body just about given up on boxing. I think his mind is prepared, he doesn’t need to take this risk… he wants to. But in the Tyson Fury fight he looked gun shy, unwilling to the pull the trigger and this is sometimes a tell-tale sign that a fighter is on his way out. Of course, AJ this is a totally different prospect to Tyson Fury, and this is what makes this interesting.

One must assume that Anthony Joshua is an easier target to hit than the 6’9 elusive Fury, who has likely the best footwork in the division. But I remember reading an interview with Eric Molina who rated AJ’s defensive work, but let’s be honest Molina didn’t attack often and when he did, they were loaded up arm shots. Another case of… we shall see.

The big selling point is this. We don’t yet know if Klitschko is passed his prime, or that Tyson Fury did a much better job than what people give him credit for (which he did in my personal opinion). Joshua will provide the answer, without doubt.

Mostly what I want to see from this fight is to see a competitive match up. I don’t want to see a boxing legend bow out with an early knockout. It would be nice to see Wladimir teaching a young student of the game the art of distance and jabbing, it could potentially be an incredible learning fight for Anothony Joshua. Whereas an early knockout, skeptics will say, “well Wladimir was over the hill” etc, we learn nothing new about AJ and he likely would receive no credit for it nor any lessons learned. I want both men to fight at their best and let the best man win.

My predictions… well I’ve got two, and they both relate to the game plans of both men. Anthony Joshua could likely make an old man of Wladimir, he could get him out of their in the first 4 rounds. From what we’ve seen from him so far, it’s far from a ridiculous prediction. My other prediction is the outside bet. Wladimir Klitschko puts on a jabbing exhibition. He lets his hands go, he grabs Joshua in close, he frustrates the young champion and pulls away down the stretch, winning by decision. As I said earlier “nobody’s right until after the fight” and with this fight… anything could happen.

YouTube video