Wladimir Klitschko NOT coming back

By Boxing News - 04/06/2019 - Comments

Image: Wladimir Klitschko NOT coming back

By Tim Royner: Wladimir Klitschko has once again made it clear that he will not be coming out of retirement to resume his career as a heavyweight. Recently a website created false news as an April Fools joke that the 42-year-old former IBF/WBA/WBC champion Klitschko (64-5, 53 KOs) would be coming out of retirement to restart his stalled career, but he’s not going to do it. As always, Wladimir says, ‘you can never say never.’

“So far, my status has not changed. Rumors keep coming up that are like a compliment to me. If the fans really want to see that, it’s nice. I’m delighted that the community and the sport miss me. You never say never,” Klitschko said to @SID_Sport News.

The boxing fans want to see Wladimir come back because the heavyweight division is so weak right now. If Klitschko were able to fight at the same level he was at for his last fight two years ago against Anthony Joshua, there’s a good chance that he would clean out the division entirely within a year. There’s Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. Those are three beatable heavyweights that Wladimir could defeat in consecutive fights if he returned to the ring right now. Obviously, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing would insist on another fight if Wladimir were to beat Joshua. Hearn wouldn’t let Wladimir move on to fight someone else like Wilder if he handed Joshua his first career defeat. It would be one of those things where a rematch would be setup in England, and Wladimir would be the visiting fighter like he was when he fought AJ at Wembley Stadium in London, England two years ago.

Wladimir hung up his gloves following his 11th round knockout loss to IBF champion Anthony Joshua in April 2017. Although Wladimir had a chance to make a massive amount of money fighting Joshua in a rematch, he chose to walk away from the sport rather than continue fighting. Wladimir had been out of the sport for two years when he fought the 6’5″ Joshua, and he still almost beat the British heavyweight. There were times in the fight where Wladimir was schooling Joshua, making him look a rank amateur. Joshua looked like he didn’t belong in the ring with Klitschko. The skill level between the two heavyweights was so dramatic that looked embarrassing. Joshua had youth, size, and the hometown advantage over Wladimir. Other than that, Wladimir was the better fighter, and it was easy to see that he would have easily beaten Joshua if he had been in his prime instead of 40-years-old and coming off of a 2-year layoff.