Wladimir Klitschko vs. Anthony Joshua

[pablothunder]

Joshua outlasted a 41 yr old who hadn't looked good in 2 yrs, and who couldn't pull the trigger when he had his man hurt. The Wlad of 5 yrs ago would have easily beaten AJ. What favours Joshua right now is a weak division.

He's super fit but his head is a sitting duck, I don't see that changing.

[Ossyrules]

Fury fan boys and Joshua fan boys both overrate their charges. It's pretty boring reading it all all time time in these threads

- fury had a better style advantage over Wlad

- fury beat Wlad with less trouble

- Joshua fight was more exciting

Fury had the perfect game plan to beat Wlad, but neither him or Wlad looked good. If I remember it was that heavyweight fight that had a record low amount of punches landed of any heavyweight fight in history. If Fury and Joshua fought, I think Joshua, even with some stamina issues, would stop Fury about half way through the fight. Fury doesn't punch hard enough to KO Joshua, imo.

Spot on. Wlad had the right hand to keep joshua from swarming him. Fury doesn't have that power imo

[sharpei_louis]

Whether it was mental or conditioning or Fury's tactics and skill, Wlad didn't appear the same fighter at all who turned up that night. Then he seemed scared of letting his hands go despite the fact that Fury had far less chance of the KO than Joshua; last night he threw shots with disregard at times which was really the only thing that had stopped Wlad being ATG in my eyes. Not sure why that was, I would've expected Wlad to throw more recklessly v Fury. Anyway. Styles make fights and a fit Fury v Joshua would be as hard to call as Joshua v Wlad was IMO.

I don't really question Joshua's stamina or chin. He took some great shots from a HW with proven power, and then took the mother of right hands which sent him into orbit for two full rounds - I think that was responsible for the low output rather than the stamina issue. Credit to Joshua for coming through that - I can only count a handful of fighters over the last 20 years who could have taken that shot and got up to win I think.

I'm surprised people are questioning the stoppage. I think Wlad was down heavy twice and I thought gone. The fact that Joshua didn't knock him cold is the reason the ref stopped the fight, he didn't deserve that and that's exactly what the ref saved him from.
How someone can say that 'Wlad was fully recovered' is pretty mind-boggling. And to say the ref was biased is bizarre too; I think the only real occasion Wlad was leaning on Joshua as he has done at times in his career, Joshua got a warning for ducking low!! I thought the ref had a good fight and the stoppage was sound.



Ultimately I'm amazed at parts of this thread.

Greatest HW fight in years, two warriors went to the well and produced a superb spectacle and some people are critical, complaining and generally seeming unhappy.

I think Joshua did everything that could be expected of him and more as an 18 fight pro, and Wlad performed out of his skin for a 41 year old. It was one of the most value for money and rewarding fights I've seen in a long time.

[RScarf1]

I think Wladimir took more risks during the fight than in previous fights. He wanted to be champion again. He was very motivated. He was probably the fittest he could possibly be at his age.

[Bard of Boxrec]

I think Wladimir took more risks during the fight than in previous fights. He wanted to be champion again. He was very motivated. He was probably the fittest he could possibly be at his age.

Indeed, this was wlads best performance for years. Amazing really that a guy of 41 could hang with Joshua like that.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I think Wladimir took more risks during the fight than in previous fights. He wanted to be champion again. He was very motivated. He was probably the fittest he could possibly be at his age.

Indeed, this was wlads best performance for years. Amazing really that a guy of 41 could hang with Joshua like that.

I shockingly found myself cheering for him.

[MachoTime]

FOTY so far. At least from what I've seen.

[RScarf1]

I think Wladimir took more risks during the fight than in previous fights. He wanted to be champion again. He was very motivated. He was probably the fittest he could possibly be at his age.

Indeed, this was wlads best performance for years. Amazing really that a guy of 41 could hang with Joshua like that.

I shockingly found myself cheering for him.

I was too. I guess being in my 40s contributed to that. There are many anti-aging things now that anyone can do to fend off Father Time such as salt caves and cooling the body with nitrogen for three minutes. The costs are not astronomical like stem cell therapy currently is. Billions of dollars are being invested toward making humans immortal, but only the very rich can afford them. However, there are much less expensive things that can be done and I'm sure that Wladimir is aware of them and does a few of them.

[Freedom2013]

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

[Tanzio]

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

Damn!! I must have been drunk. I didn't realize that Wlad floored him with a left

But seriously, anyone who questions either man's chin after that is delirious. They both took a large number of monster shots and ended on their feet.

I will always feel indebted to Wlad and AJ for that performance. I am still tingling.

[cfang]

It was one of the great heavyweight fights where oddly there are two winners. Wk's standing has defo improved. He showed guts, skill and class. I really think this fight may put him into the all time heavy top ten. Tbf since steward came along he's been mostly beating inferiors in a boring fashion and we didn't know how good he really was (I think he took fury lightly). Now after such a performance I think we can see what a fabulous heavy he is. As for Joshua he was incredible and finally lived up to the hype. He's the best today by far. A great night for both men and for boxing.

[davie]

It will be a bit like Joe Louis vs. Rocky Marciano.

Can i just say, I want to start pointing out the reasons why it'll be nothing like Marciano vs Louis but I'd be quicker pointing out the similarities

Both fighters have gloves on

THE END

Well I was wrong
There were 2 similarities

They were wearing boots too.

Bit like Louis vs Marciano indeed

[franio]

On this video they both look like southpaws.

[Bard of Boxrec]

It was one of the great heavyweight fights where oddly there are two winners. Wk's standing has defo improved. He showed guts, skill and class. I really think this fight may put him into the all time heavy top ten. Tbf since steward came along he's been mostly beating inferiors in a boring fashion and we didn't know how good he really was (I think he took fury lightly). Now after such a performance I think we can see what a fabulous heavy he is. As for Joshua he was incredible and finally lived up to the hype. He's the best today by far. A great night for both men and for boxing.

Let's not get silly putting him in the all time top ten, but I do agree this fight finally showed us what the man is about.

[spanner18]

On this video they both look like southpaws.

I thought I was going loopy for a few minutes why does this look so?

[Rob3_142]

On this video they both look like southpaws.

Oh man, it took me a little while to figure out why Joshua was fighting south paw. Thought I was still drunk from last night!

[Ilya Muromets]

...........................

[candyslim]

It was one of the great heavyweight fights where oddly there are two winners. Wk's standing has defo improved. He showed guts, skill and class. I really think this fight may put him into the all time heavy top ten. Tbf since steward came along he's been mostly beating inferiors in a boring fashion and we didn't know how good he really was (I think he took fury lightly). Now after such a performance I think we can see what a fabulous heavy he is. As for Joshua he was incredible and finally lived up to the hype. He's the best today by far. A great night for both men and for boxing.

I agree with all that except I don't know that I'd put him in the top ten of all time. Definitely maybe as they say.

I'm sure his bank manager would enthusiastically disagree with me, but in some ways I don't think that winning the IBF belt when he did, was the best thing for AJ : He is a world champion but he's still (albeit an exceptional one) a nineteen fight novice of limited amateur experience, who doesn't have the luxury of serving his apprenticeship away from the public eye. It's very much learn on the job.

People say that Wlad of a few years ago would have stopped him in that sixth round and I wouldn't argue, but if we're messing with time-lines let's be fair about it. In his 19th fight Wlad beat a guy called Cody Koch who never fought again. Wlad's best wins at that point were over past his best/ never was much anyway, James Pritchard and way past his best former Light-Heavy/ Cruiser, Everett "Big Foot" Martin.

It wasn't until his 25th fight that he lost his unbeaten record by KO to Ross Puritty who, with the exception of Wlad and "Indian" Joe Hipp, lost to every good fighter he faced, and that was a lot.

Fast forward to 2003 when Wlad was the same age AJ is now, and he'd beaten some decent names the previous year, but this was the year he was knocked out by Corrie Sanders.

All I'm saying is to be patient with AJ and if you must compare him to other modern greats, at least compare like for like.

Final word on stamina question : AJ is a very mature level-headed young man, but fighting in front of 90,000 of your own fans, and a worldwide television audience of millions, scrutinizing everything you do, must put you under enough pressure to collapse most people. The crowd may have been on his side but that only adds to it. The occasion I think was to the vastly experienced Klitschko something to be milked and savoured, and was much to his advantage.

We boxing fans know very well that nothing saps your strength and stamina more than nervous energy and I thought Joshua's face while awaiting the first bell showed plenty of that. He'd be super-human if he wasn't feeling it. In the future this may prove less of an issue.

[pablothunder]

I think we have a lot of exciting fights coming up with Joshua. He's has shown that he's both a huge challenge for anyone to overcome, and he was exposed. Brilliant stuff for heavyweight viewing.

[Freedom2013]

https://twitter.com/MonteroOnBoxing/sta ... 1629437952

[Baby Face Finster]

https://twitter.com/MonteroOnBoxing/sta ... 1629437952

That is some impressive numbers! Let's hope Joshua can get the casual fan interested in boxing again, but to do that he is going to have to come over to the U.S. and fight there often.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Hopefully his other numbers are more accurate than what he put for the us.

[Rob3_142]

Final word on stamina question : AJ is a very mature level-headed young man, but fighting in front of 90,000 of your own fans, and a worldwide television audience of millions, scrutinizing everything you do, must put you under enough pressure to collapse most people. The crowd may have been on his side but that only adds to it. The occasion I think was to the vastly experienced Klitschko something to be milked and savoured, and was much to his advantage.

We boxing fans know very well that nothing saps your strength and stamina more than nervous energy and I thought Joshua's face while awaiting the first bell showed plenty of that. He'd be super-human if he wasn't feeling it. In the future this may prove less of an issue.

I think this is an important point which people are overlooking. Look at what happened to Price in his last outing? Was his stamina really that bad? Or were there other factors such as punch resistance and nervous energy? Joshua didn't look nervous on his ring walk, but you wouldn't be human if you were walking to that ring not feeling it. You can guarantee that Klitschko was a lot less nervous going into the opening bell. That's what experience gives you.