By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew is picking Anthony Joshua to destroy Wladimir Klitschko in 4 rounds this Saturday night in their mega-fight this Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Bellew does have some concerns about the fight as far as Joshua not being able to get a quick knockout.
Bellew thinks that if Joshua can’t knock Wadimir out within 4 rounds, then the experience of the 41-year-old Wladimir could take over and allow him to get the victory. Bellew blames Joshua’s lack of experience fighting longer fights on him being so good. Bellew talks about how Joshua likes to jump on his opponents quickly and nail them with sustained combinations sometimes numbering in as many as 6 punches. Bellew says Joshua isn’t afraid o get hit back.
“If it’s not over in the first 4 rounds, I’m extremely worried,” said Tony Bellew to IFL TV about the Joshua vs. Klitschko fight. “Only purely because he’s very inexperienced for a fight that goes past 4 rounds. Let me tell you it’s very different when you’re in with a seasoned vet who can bang and knows what he’s doing like Wladimir Klitschko. I speak with experience going in with top level guys. Experience is gained not earned. The only way you can get it is time. Unfortunately for Anthony, he hasn’t been able to get it, through no fault of his own, because he’s so bleeding good. We’re going to find out on Saturday night how good he really is. I think he’s the real deal. I think he’s the real dominant fighter of our era. I don’t like this fight to go past 4 rounds. I just feel he’ll get rid of him in the first 4 rounds. I’m not saying Anthony Joshua is Mike Tyson. There hasn’t been anyone since Mike Tyson that gets in front of big dudes and throws 5-6 punches and doesn’t care about what’s coming back. Anthony Joshua does that. He gets in front of you. The modern day heavyweights are scared of getting hit,” said Bellew.
Well, Joshua’s bad habit of going after his opponents for quick knockouts is going to surely catch-up to him sooner or later. It might be as early as this Saturday that we finally see Joshua paying the price for his brawling style of fighting. Fighters like Joshua end to have a short shelf life. That’s the bad news. Bellew talks about Joshua as if he’s going to have a long reign.
I don’t think he will. Even if Wladimir doesn’t get Joshua this Saturday, it’s only a matter of time before he face someone with the right combination of power and boxing ability to send Joshua down to defeat. We saw Joshua outworked in the Olympics in his fights against Robert Cammarelle, Ivan Dychko and Erislandy Savon. Those fights were the last ones in which Joshua fought talented heavyweights. Wladimir has talent, but he might not have the youth or the nerve to beat Joshua. I have no doubts that a younger Wladimir would beat Joshua without too many problems.
“If one punch lands and he’s knocked out, it’s not that big a deal. Anybody can go with one punch. I don’t think Anthony has it in him to take that kind of punishment, because he’s a do or die type of fighter. He will not go in there and tread water. He’ll go in there and put it on Wladimir, and that’s what leads me to believe he’ll be victorious. This fight can’t go the distance, because he won’t go in there and tread water. He’ll go in there and leave it all in there. This means knockout or get knocked out,” said Bellew.
I don’t see Joshua in such a heroic way like Bellew does. Joshua looks like a decent fighter, but also a vulnerable guy that can be hurt and knocked out. All it will take is for Wladimir to go after Joshua full bore on Saturday night, and he could get a knockout in the fight. Wladimir shouldn’t get caught up trying to drag Joshua into the deep end of the pool to drown him. That’s not the proper way to beat him. Wladimir needs to attack Joshua in an all-out way by hitting him constantly with shots so that he can wear him down, and stress him out. Joshua isn’t used to getting hit because his opponents are often timid.
“I don’t care what anyone says, Tyson Fury destroyed Wladimir Klitschko mentally,” said Bellew. ”He broke Wladimir Klitschko. It’s all part of the gamesmanship. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. It was brilliant by Tyson Fury. At the end of the way, he’s still the lineal heavyweight champion of the world. He’s the man who beat the man in his own backyard. Anthony Joshua is going in with Wladimir Klitschko not playing any games. No mental games, purely saying, ‘I’m going to knock you out,’ and he’s doing it like an athlete and saying it like an athlete. Anthony Joshua is turning up and saying, ‘I’m going to knock you out.’ It’s simple. He’s chilling. There isn’t any mind games with that. It’s about 2 Olympic gold medalists, 2 amazing athletes and 2 brilliant boxers. Anthony Joshua is the kind of fighter that fights one way. Kill or be killed, that’s what he does, and that’s why we all love him,” said Bellew.
I don’t agree that Fury broke Wladimir mentally. I think Wladimir wasn’t willing to commit to the right game plan for him to get the victory in the Fury fight in 2015. Wladimir had to take chances for him to win the fight with Fury, and he just didn’t want to do that.
Deontay Wilder wants Joseph Parker in July
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder wants to fight WBO champion Joseph Parker in a unification match in July. Wilder says that Parker doesn’t have an opponent due to his mandatory challenger Hughie Fury pulling out of their May 6 fight due to a back problem. Wilder says a fight between him and Parker would be a bigger fight than the Parker-Hughie fight would have been. Wilder wants to beat Parker to take his WBO title. Wilder then wants to face the winner of the Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko later this year in order to unify the belts.
Wilder will be working the Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko fight as a commentator. Sky is obviously looking towards the future to help build up a Joshua-Wilder fight. Having Wilder in front of the camera on Sky will help make him more recognizable to the casual British boxing fans for a later fight with Joshua. Of course, if Joshua gets blown to pieces by Wladimir, then it won’t matter that Wilder was seen by the fans. It’s a gamble that Sky is taking in having Wilder as one of their crew, because there’s a chance that Joshua won’t get past Wladimir on Saturday. I’m just saying.
“I’m not just going to be a part of Sky Sports. I’m going there to scout, just like all the other heavyweights coming to my fights. They’re not just coming there as fans,” said Deontay Wilder to Fighthype.com about him working the Joshua vs. Klitschko fight on Saturday as a commentator. “They’re there to scout. They’re looking for different openings. They’re looking for certain signs. I want to get [Joseph] Parker. Parker doesn’t have an opponent now. Me and Parker fighting in a unification. After that, you’ll have another unification, a winner takes all at the end of the year. It can definitely happen. It’s up to Parker’s team. We can negotiate and make the fight bigger. It’ll be way bigger than the Fury fight. They got a history of backing out of fights, and that is definitely not professional and not good for boxing. This is the heavyweight division. We’re already coming out of a dark place. I want to give the fans what they want, and they want a unification and one champion and I’m trying to make that happen. So here I am, Joseph Parker. I want to be back inside the ring in July. I want Parker. That’s what I want, Parker in July. Why not? He doesn’t have an opponent right now. It can go wherever. You don’t have an opponent. I’m fresh. The other guys are busy. You’ve got the Joshua-Klitschko fight. Let’s have Parker-Wilder as well too. It makes so much sense,” said Wilder.
Something tells me that there won’t be a Wilder-Parker fight in July. I think it’s more likely than not that Parker will be matched up against a bottom fringe contender for his next fight, because the Hughie Fury fight is likely going to be postponed rather than called off. Parker will be given a voluntary defense by the World Boxing Organization. That’s an easy money fight for Parker if his promoters pick from the bottom of the WBO rankings in selecting someone like Razvan Cojanu, Kyotaro Fukimoto, Agit Kabayel or Andrey Fedosov.
