In 1996, after winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta (super-heavyweight division), Wladimir Klitschko began his professional boxing career in Hamburg, Germany. Around the same time, more than 4,000 miles away in Cleveland, B.O.N.E. Thugs & Harmony released the single for Crossroads. Nearly 21 years into the Ukranian’s esteemed boxing career, the iconic hip-hop song could be the soundtrack to the 41-year-old former champion’s career.
Though Klitschko was never the most-popular fighter to US boxing fans (thanks to his dull fighting style and robot-like charisma), it’s hard to argue his run as one of the most successful heavyweights in history. Klitschko’s championship reign of nine years, seven months and seven days is second only to Joe Louis.
Much of his success is owed to the late-Emmanuel Steward. Klitschko’s chin was exposed to be delicate, he suffered KO losses to Ross Purrity, Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster. However, once Steward took over in Klitschko’s corner, he flourished. Steward taught the 6-foot-6 fighter to use his height to keep his opponents and bay and to clutch and hold on for dear life in his opponents got within his guard. The style didn’t make for the most exciting fights, but they did earn “Dr. Steelhammer” 18 consecutive title defenses.
That streak came to a surprising end in 2015 when Klitschko was defeated by Great Britain’s 6-foot-9 Tyson Fury. The then-39-year-old Klitschko struggled to deal with the length and movement of the awkward Fury. He didn’t move well. He didn’t let his hands go. He looked old.
Saturday night, on Showtime Championship Boxing, he will attempt to regain a few of his trinkets when he faces another former Olympic gold medalist in Anthony Joshua. Klitschko and Joshua will battle for the WBA and IBF and world heavyweight titles in front of over 90,000 fans at London’s Wembly Stadium.
Whereas Klitschko defended his titles 18-conseutive times, the 27-year-old Joshua has only had 18 total fights in his career. None of the British fighter’s opponents have been in the same stratosphere as Klitschko in terms of quality. Though his resume lacks quality opponents, at least Joshua has done what he needed to do and left all 18 guys in front of him flat on their backs. The 6-foot-6 knockout artist boasts a perfect 100% KO ratio. He earned the IBF heavyweight title by knocking out St. Louis native Charles Martin last April.
Joshua is similar to WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in that he’s far from the most fundamentally sound fighter, but thus far his concussive knockout power has made up for his technical deficiencies. Should Joshua win, a potential rock ‘em, sock ‘em fight against Wilder would be one of the most exciting and appealing fights to be made in the division. But first, he has to deal with the experienced old sage in front of him.
There are two looming questions that can help determine who will win this fight. First, is Klitschko over the hill? The definitive answer to that question is ‘yes.’ At 41-years-old, there’s simply no way that Klitschko will have the stamina or mobility that he had during his prime. In his loss to Fury, Klitschko threw and landed an embarrassing amount of punches at 19 and 4 respectively. Now Klitschko is returning to the ring after a year-and-a-half layoff. Expect age and ring rust to be factors in this bout.
The second question is whether Joshua’s youth and power can make up for his lack of experience against world-class opponents. The answer to that question will ultimately determine the winner.
Style-wise, Joshua is tailor-made for Klitschko. He’s a pretty straight-forward fighter who is more brawler than boxer. Klitschko shouldn’t have to seek out Joshua in the ring like he did when he faced Fury. The IBF champion will be in front of him all night long, aiming those monstrous looping shots at Wlad’s chin. Though Klitschko’s china-chinned problems are far in the past, in reality, he hasn’t faced very many tall and powerful fighters who could reach his chin with ease.
If Joshua can walk through Klitschko’s vaunted power, he certainly has the height and reach to touch the former champion. Joshua’s chin is also a big question mark. He was dazed by unheralded Dillian Whyte in 2015 and was dropped several times during the amateurs. There have also been several rumors of Joshua being dropped in sparring over the years. If Joshua can’t take a punch with headgear on, how will he fare against a man with a 78% KO rate over nearly 70 fights?
Picking a winner here is almost a 50/50 prospect. A Joshua victory would mean that the Klitschko era is officially and definitively in the past. A Klitschko victory would muddle up a heavyweight division that seems to finally be sorting itself out with the next generation of fighters.
As much as I’d love to see Joshua send Klitschko into retirement (I don’t dislike Klitschko, but his time has passed), I don’t think he’s quite ready. Look for Joshua to jump on Klitschko early and maybe appear to almost end the fight early. However, Klitschko will use his vast experience to weather the storm. I can see Joshua going for broke and punching himself out. If he does, the infamous Wlad jab and grab strategy will go into full effect turning an exciting fight into a dull affair down the stretch. Even at age 41, I think Klitschko is built for a long fight and Joshua is not. My prediction: Wladimir Klitschko wins via 10th round KO.
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