Round-By-Round - Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko - April 29th 2017

[darkstar81]

See who Katie Taylor is fighting? Hot as eff

An ex Scarborough student. Fought amateur in Scarborough too i think.

From the scum: "23-year old German, trained by former World champion Sven Ottke, is no stranger to the UK as she boxed out of Scarborough as a teenager."

Damn...

[Oiky]

Katies opponent is a good sort

[boxingknockout]

Katies opponent is a good sort

I'd much rather see them mud wrestle topless than box....everyone keeps saying what a great promoter Hearn is, but he clearly missed a trick here....

[Mimmy]

An ex Scarborough student. Fought amateur in Scarborough too i think.

From the scum: "23-year old German, trained by former World champion Sven Ottke, is no stranger to the UK as she boxed out of Scarborough as a teenager."

Damn...

The German lass looks lovely. But more to the point both undefeated so should be interesting however Meinke hasnt got the pedigree so i dont think she will beat Taylor.

Im looking forward to this one.

[Andrew]

If Wlad wins how much does that deflate boxing in GB?

I know people like to moan about casual fans but they are the lifeblood of any sport that wants to thrive and prosper. If their man Joshua gets sparked will it be detrimental to everyone in the sport?

For me not much because they aren't fans of boxing and sky doesn't educate them at all.

Will be full of coked up idiots on Saturday.

Also the good thing could mean less PPVs. I've hammered it here a lot recently that sky want an old WWE PPV model of one a month.

If Joshua wins that is realistic.

How is it realistic? WWE can have a PPV each month because they can get the big names out every day if they want. Who's going to be headlining PPV cards at a rate of one every four weeks?

It would centre around AJ being active which means 4 PPVs straight away. We have had/ scheduled PPVs in March, Apr and May.

Talk of a Degale card PPV July, Bellew HW fight maybe Sept and 100% AJ again.

Not saying they will do one a month straight away but at the current rate it is realistic in the future. They did Bellew v Clev 2 on PPV and no way Soence v Brook is a PPV fight. He would have done Mictehll v Croll or Crolla v Campbell if it wasn't for defeats.

[SAPFO]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoTuSFsaiUU

[wesshaw1985]

Polls been taken down?

Very strange, i'll have to re-do it...

[crusader]

Years ago, Wlad regularly put 3, 4, and even 5 shots together. His combo punching was a strong point...

[Oiky]

Liking what I'm seeing in these Klitschko vids and I'm hoping he can bring this into the ring where it really matters!

[forcefraser]

Wlad is in rare shape. Joshua could be in for a bad night here.

[Oiky]

Not long to go now to find out whats what

[rd350lc]

I can see Joshua gassing around the 7-8th rounds if he doesn't get the early KO, that bodybuilder physique must drain stamina levels .

[Ricky_]

Joshua is going to end up flat on his back within 6.

[Benelio]

Here's a few points that I can see in favour of a Klitschko win. Most of them you can prefix with IMO, and a lot are dependent on Klitschko not being shot to pieces!

Positives for Wlad:

• The Fury fight made Wlad look far more faded than he is.
• Wlad's time off probably did him good.
• Wlad's had 4 training camps in a row over a 2 year period preparing for tall fighters.
• Wlad is very accurate with both hands.
• Wlad knows how to survive now when he gets tagged.
• Wlad has better footwork than AJ
• Wlad has more than enough power to take AJ out.
• Wlad not likely to be fazed by the crowd/event given prior experience.
• Wlad done 12 rounds at a high pace in the past.
• Wlad came in light, so probably had an injury free camp.

Negatives for AJ:

• AJ's high front guard is begging to have a left hook round the side.
• AJ has barely seen the second half of a fight.
• AJ best win is against someone most people had Dereck Chisora beating (and was hurt by Chisora's shots).
• AJ's sparring partners include a brawling amateur (Joyce), and someone who could only land one punch on Wlad over 12 rounds.
• AJ has never fought on the backfoot (he might be forced to at some point).
• AJ has never shown good lateral movement.
• Most KO kings seem to get a loss or are exposed on their ascent.
• AJ hasn't demonstrated a great jab so far, relying on the right hand against smaller fighters at range.
• AJ has never had to cope with being dropped in the pros.
• AJ has never had to come from behind.

[Oiky]

Here's a few points that I can see in favour of a Klitschko win. Most of them you can prefix with IMO, and a lot are dependent on Klitschko not being shot to pieces!

Positives for Wlad:

• The Fury fight made Wlad look far more faded than he is.
• Wlad's time off probably did him good.
• Wlad's had 4 training camps in a row over a 2 year period preparing for tall fighters.
• Wlad is very accurate with both hands.
• Wlad knows how to survive now when he gets tagged.
• Wlad has better footwork than AJ
• Wlad has more than enough power to take AJ out.
• Wlad not likely to be fazed by the crowd/event given prior experience.
• Wlad done 12 rounds at a high pace in the past.
• Wlad came in light, so probably had an injury free camp.

Negatives for AJ:

• AJ's high front guard is begging to have a left hook round the side.
• AJ has barely seen the second half of a fight.
• AJ best win is against someone most people had Dereck Chisora beating (and was hurt by Chisora's shots).
• AJ's sparring partners include a brawling amateur (Joyce), and someone who could only land one punch on Wlad over 12 rounds.
• AJ has never fought on the backfoot (he might be forced to at some point).
• AJ has never shown good lateral movement.
• Most KO kings seem to get a loss or are exposed on their ascent.
• AJ hasn't demonstrated a great jab so far, relying on the right hand against smaller fighters at range.
• AJ has never had to cope with being dropped in the pros.
• AJ has never had to come from behind.

Can't argue with any of that

[wesshaw1985]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDZrNW3MzbA

[dr_devious]

[*]Wlad knows how to survive now when he gets tagged.

Eh?

[Benelio]

[*]Wlad knows how to survive now when he gets tagged.

Eh?

Basically I mean that when he gets hurt, he's much better at staying composed and maintaining a good defense than he was around the time of his KO losses, early in his career. The way he got through and won his first fight against Samuel Peters is testament to this. Recently, he has been hurt by Wach, Pulev and Fury (round 11?) - and handled each incident without danger of being KOed.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

Klitschko is going to old man him badly, I don't see how Joshua is going to win this to be honest.

There will be shades of Duran vs Moore and it will be the same result - an 8th round stoppage for Wlad.

[Andrew]

Here's a few points that I can see in favour of a Klitschko win. Most of them you can prefix with IMO, and a lot are dependent on Klitschko not being shot to pieces!

Positives for Wlad:

• The Fury fight made Wlad look far more faded than he is.
• Wlad's time off probably did him good.
• Wlad's had 4 training camps in a row over a 2 year period preparing for tall fighters.
• Wlad is very accurate with both hands.
• Wlad knows how to survive now when he gets tagged.
• Wlad has better footwork than AJ
• Wlad has more than enough power to take AJ out.
• Wlad not likely to be fazed by the crowd/event given prior experience.
• Wlad done 12 rounds at a high pace in the past.
• Wlad came in light, so probably had an injury free camp.

Negatives for AJ:

• AJ's high front guard is begging to have a left hook round the side.
• AJ has barely seen the second half of a fight.
• AJ best win is against someone most people had Dereck Chisora beating (and was hurt by Chisora's shots).
• AJ's sparring partners include a brawling amateur (Joyce), and someone who could only land one punch on Wlad over 12 rounds.
• AJ has never fought on the backfoot (he might be forced to at some point).
• AJ has never shown good lateral movement.
• Most KO kings seem to get a loss or are exposed on their ascent.
• AJ hasn't demonstrated a great jab so far, relying on the right hand against smaller fighters at range.
• AJ has never had to cope with being dropped in the pros.
• AJ has never had to come from behind.

Very good post.

One thing to add is Joshua's technique in his right hand. He brings a lot of straight right hands back in a very weird swinging motion.

Leaves him wide open to left hook counters. This was very evident in the Breazeale fight.

[Andrew]

Really difficult to call.

This all depends on what Wlad has left. I think it will be very clear in the first round.

If this was prime Wlad with Manny Steward in the corner this would be a gross mismatch.

[dirk2686]

Here's a few points that I can see in favour of a Klitschko win. Most of them you can prefix with IMO, and a lot are dependent on Klitschko not being shot to pieces!

Positives for Wlad:

• The Fury fight made Wlad look far more faded than he is.
• Wlad's time off probably did him good.
• Wlad's had 4 training camps in a row over a 2 year period preparing for tall fighters.
• Wlad is very accurate with both hands.
• Wlad knows how to survive now when he gets tagged.
• Wlad has better footwork than AJ
• Wlad has more than enough power to take AJ out.
• Wlad not likely to be fazed by the crowd/event given prior experience.
• Wlad done 12 rounds at a high pace in the past.
• Wlad came in light, so probably had an injury free camp.

Negatives for AJ:

• AJ's high front guard is begging to have a left hook round the side.
• AJ has barely seen the second half of a fight.
• AJ best win is against someone most people had Dereck Chisora beating (and was hurt by Chisora's shots).
• AJ's sparring partners include a brawling amateur (Joyce), and someone who could only land one punch on Wlad over 12 rounds.
• AJ has never fought on the backfoot (he might be forced to at some point).
• AJ has never shown good lateral movement.
• Most KO kings seem to get a loss or are exposed on their ascent.
• AJ hasn't demonstrated a great jab so far, relying on the right hand against smaller fighters at range.
• AJ has never had to cope with being dropped in the pros.
• AJ has never had to come from behind.

Good post, but a few things to consider.

A lot of the Joshua points are down to experience which he can only get by taking fights like this. For me, if someone hasn't seen the second half of a fight, is it really a negative or just a sign of power and/or completely dominating opponents? It's not beyond the realms of fantasy that Joshua ends this in the first half of the fight, to which the point will remain. Not fighting on the back foot, not coming from behind, not having a massive signature win all apply. And whilst you can take these as signs of inexperience and therefore negatives, I don't really know how not being dropped is in the list of ticks against him!

[dirk2686]

Really difficult to call.

This all depends on what Wlad has left. I think it will be very clear in the first round.

If this was prime Wlad with Manny Steward in the corner this would be a gross mismatch.

Time will tell if it would have been a gross mismatch. It probably won't happen but if we're sat in five years talking about a 30-0 Joshua with wins over Wlad, Fury, Wilder and a few as yet unknown up and comers then consensus may be that Joshua would have always been too similar in size for Wlad to use any serious physical advantages and too hard for Wlad to keep off.

[wesshaw1985]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J6JoEK-A-Q

[Counter-puncher]

[*]Wlad done 12 rounds at a high pace in the past.
]

really? I must have missed that one.