Will you root for Joshua or for Klitschko ? Why ?

[jezzamundo]

It would be a huge win, but seeing as Joshua is relatively untested, I don't think it's enough for a Top 10 berth.

In other words, you'll never give Wladimir Klitschko any credit no matter what because you don't like him.

At age 41, Wlad's beating a prime former Olympic Gold medalist, a huge puncher and the best HW of today would be a great win.

Only the very worst of the Klitschko haters will refuse to give him deserved credit.

I'll give Wlad plenty of credit for beating Joshua if he does - I just don't happen to think it's enough for him to be an all-time top 10 heavyweight. I actually do like Wlad Klitschko - I think he's a smart and classy guy and a good ambassador for the sport as well as being clearly the most dominant heavyweight of the post Lennox Lewis era. I find him boring to watch due to his defense-first, low activity style, but I can appreciate the effectiveness of that style against the opponents he has faced. No argument from me that beating Joshua would be a great win. Just because I don't think he's top 10 all-time doesn't make me a hater.

[jezzamundo]

I also don't want to see Wlad win because I think he is overrated in a historical sense and a win over Joshua would be huge and would increase the shouts of those who put him in their all-time top 10.

So to translate, You'd hate to see evidence of something that you happen not to believe

Stink's of confirmation bias

Sure does... Wladimir Klitschko is well into the Top-10 whether you like it or not Jezzamundo... And whether he gets knocked out early or late by the greatest Heavyweight on the planet, WK has still beaten 9 of the 10 Heavyweight Champions he fought in his prime - even though several refused to fight him.. Losing to Fury and Joshua at 39 and 41 is like Ali losing to Holmes and Berbick when he was 38 and 39 -- except Wladimir is showing better form.

I agree that losing to Fury does little to diminish Wlad's legacy, as would losing to Joshua. Confirmation bias... yes, probably a little, but ultimately I trust my own eyes more than anything else and having watched a lot of heavyweight boxing, I'm convinced that Wlad ruled the heavyweight division when it was in a very weakened state and would lose to many of the division's past champions.

If we're going purely on number of titles, defences, etc then Wlad has to be Top 10, but factoring in the quality of opposition and how he would fare against past champions, for me Wlad would be lucky to scrape Top 20.

[davie]

So to translate, You'd hate to see evidence of something that you happen not to believe

Stink's of confirmation bias

Sure does... Wladimir Klitschko is well into the Top-10 whether you like it or not Jezzamundo... And whether he gets knocked out early or late by the greatest Heavyweight on the planet, WK has still beaten 9 of the 10 Heavyweight Champions he fought in his prime - even though several refused to fight him.. Losing to Fury and Joshua at 39 and 41 is like Ali losing to Holmes and Berbick when he was 38 and 39 -- except Wladimir is showing better form.

I agree that losing to Fury does little to diminish Wlad's legacy, as would losing to Joshua. Confirmation bias... yes, probably a little, but ultimately I trust my own eyes more than anything else and having watched a lot of heavyweight boxing, I'm convinced that Wlad ruled the heavyweight division when it was in a very weakened state and would lose to many of the division's past champions.

If we're going purely on number of titles, defences, etc then Wlad has to be Top 10, but factoring in the quality of opposition and how he would fare against past champions, for me Wlad would be lucky to scrape Top 20.

Holmes, Louis, Marciano all champions recognised for longevity, unbeaten runs and title defences and reigned in relatively weak eras and criticised for facing sub standard opposition, yet all 3 make most peoples top 10

[SaadOffTheDeck]

None of them got smashed by the weak. Louis and Holmes were in vastly superior eras anyway.

[jezzamundo]

Sure does... Wladimir Klitschko is well into the Top-10 whether you like it or not Jezzamundo... And whether he gets knocked out early or late by the greatest Heavyweight on the planet, WK has still beaten 9 of the 10 Heavyweight Champions he fought in his prime - even though several refused to fight him.. Losing to Fury and Joshua at 39 and 41 is like Ali losing to Holmes and Berbick when he was 38 and 39 -- except Wladimir is showing better form.

I agree that losing to Fury does little to diminish Wlad's legacy, as would losing to Joshua. Confirmation bias... yes, probably a little, but ultimately I trust my own eyes more than anything else and having watched a lot of heavyweight boxing, I'm convinced that Wlad ruled the heavyweight division when it was in a very weakened state and would lose to many of the division's past champions.

If we're going purely on number of titles, defences, etc then Wlad has to be Top 10, but factoring in the quality of opposition and how he would fare against past champions, for me Wlad would be lucky to scrape Top 20.

Holmes, Louis, Marciano all champions recognised for longevity, unbeaten runs and title defences and reigned in relatively weak eras and criticised for facing sub standard opposition, yet all 3 make most peoples top 10

True, though I would argue all three faced generally tougher opposition than Wlad Klitschko did, without ever showing such gaping holes in their games as Wlad has. You could argue Marciano not making the top 10, but the other two are locked in without a doubt.

[Freedom2013]

True, though I would argue all three faced generally tougher opposition than Wlad Klitschko did, without ever showing such gaping holes in their games as Wlad has. You could argue Marciano not making the top 10, but the other two are locked in without a doubt.

What do Wladimir Klitschko, Rocky Marciano, and all the other boxers you make negative comments about have in common?

[man]

In a way, I don't want either to win, but given the option, I'd like to see Joshua winning a competitive fight.

i like both and hope that wlad can
retire with his head held high. have
been following him long before he
entered the big international stage
and always liked him.

i don't see how joshua can lose this
one, but it is the heavies, power is
the last thing to go and wlad has
tons of it.

i hope for everything but a snooze
fest. in any case, i think it is the last
fight of wlad and thus the end of an
era.

[jezzamundo]

True, though I would argue all three faced generally tougher opposition than Wlad Klitschko did, without ever showing such gaping holes in their games as Wlad has. You could argue Marciano not making the top 10, but the other two are locked in without a doubt.

What do Wladimir Klitschko, Rocky Marciano, and all the other boxers you make negative comments about have in common?

Really? I'm sure there are some on this forum who are influenced by race, but I can assure you I'm not one of them. I'm a white Australian of British ancestry, so it wouldn't make much sense to be biased against my own race. Also, as I've said here many times, my favourite active fighter is GGG - I guess you could say he's more Asian than white, but I can honestly say that race has exactly zero influence on how I feel about any fighter.

[candyslim]

I'm British and will generally root for my compatriot. Aside from that and as much as I respect Klitschko, a win for WK is a win for the past and a return to the status quo. Joshua hasn't proved anything yet, unsurprisingly after 18 fights, but he has enormous potential and a win for Joshua is a win for boxing in my opinion. People cite lack of head movement as being a notable weakness but I've been very impressed by his ability to slip punches with great economy of movement and to punish his opponent with vicious counters.

He's a fine ambassador for the sport ... exciting, appealing to the ladies, humble, respectful and a genuine nice guy. He shows none of the apparent aversion to formidable opposition that threatens to undermine the reputation of the WBC belt-holder.

He may not end up in the hall of fame but the signs so far are good that he may do.

[ValMar]

True, though I would argue all three faced generally tougher opposition than Wlad Klitschko did, without ever showing such gaping holes in their games as Wlad has. You could argue Marciano not making the top 10, but the other two are locked in without a doubt.

What do Wladimir Klitschko, Rocky Marciano, and all the other boxers you make negative comments about have in common?

Really? I'm sure there are some on this forum who are influenced by race, but I can assure you I'm not one of them. I'm a white Australian of British ancestry, so it wouldn't make much sense to be biased against my own race. Also, as I've said here many times, my favourite active fighter is GGG - I guess you could say he's more Asian than white, but I can honestly say that race has exactly zero influence on how I feel about any fighter.

[Freedom2013]

Really? I'm sure there are some on this forum who are influenced by race, but I can assure you I'm not one of them. I'm a white Australian of British ancestry, so it wouldn't make much sense to be biased against my own race. Also, as I've said here many times, my favourite active fighter is GGG - I guess you could say he's more Asian than white, but I can honestly say that race has exactly zero influence on how I feel about any fighter.

Then you'll give Golovkin credit if he beats Jacobs, or will you post negative comments to discredit him as usual?

[Loki]

Can I add. Kudos to both AJ and WK. At least there are two top HWs willing to fight each other.

I think Parker genuinely wants a big fight. Why doesn't he and Wilder just get it on.

[gilgamesh]

It's a may the best man win situation for me. I like both fighters. I've always been a fan of Wlad, and there's no reason for me not to like AJ so far either. If AJ is the guy everyone thinks he is he should KO Wlad in pretty impressive fashion at this stage of their careers, but who knows. It's a fun fight.

[jezzamundo]

Really? I'm sure there are some on this forum who are influenced by race, but I can assure you I'm not one of them. I'm a white Australian of British ancestry, so it wouldn't make much sense to be biased against my own race. Also, as I've said here many times, my favourite active fighter is GGG - I guess you could say he's more Asian than white, but I can honestly say that race has exactly zero influence on how I feel about any fighter.

Then you'll give Golovkin credit if he beats Jacobs, or will you post negative comments to discredit him as usual?

Of course I'll give him credit if he deserves it - as I always do. I'm a big fan of his, but I'm not a 'fanboy', meaning I will make criticisms of him, his team or his opponents if I think they are valid - as I do for all fighters. I'm seriously wondering whether you have me confused with someone else on this forum, as I've supported GGG in every one of his fights.

For what it matters, I think Jacobs is GGG's best opponent to date. Brook was better in a p4p sense, but as a blown-up welterweight/natural light middleweight, he doesn't get as much credit for that win as he would by beating the #2 middleweight in the world. My pick for the fight is GGG via a 5th round stoppage and I hope it's a good, competitive fight for as long as it lasts.

[candyslim]

Can I add. Kudos to both AJ and WK. At least there are two top HWs willing to fight each other.

I think Parker genuinely wants a big fight. Why doesn't he and Wilder just get it on.

Totally agree with that (kudos to both). As to your question, they both have prior commitments. Parker defends against Hughie Fury in an interesting match up and Wilder has to defend against Bermaine Stiverne in a match-up eagerly anticipated by ... err ... don't rush me .... I'm thinking .... er Wilder and Stiverne?

What are the WBC thinking??? Nobody wants to see this fight. I like Bermaine Stiverne but he's done nothing to justify his ranking. Realistically, he might be worth a place in the top ten but only just. It isn't like their previous fight wasn't conclusive. I guess you should respect his decision to pull out against Povetkin even though his history is not drug free, but he ought to have fought Pulev or someone else likely to test whether he still has the credentials, rather than giving him a straight shot at Wilder, who doesn't appear to need any external encouragement to face down any opponent that he is massively favoured to annihilate.

I had to smile when I heard that both Wilder and Parker have expressed an interest in defending against Bellew - almost before he left the ring. S'funny that Joshua and (Tyson) Fury didn't seem to provoke quite the same "blood-in-the-water" reaction.

Who wants to risk their belt fighting someone they might not lick?

[fightfan95]

Like people have already said, I don't think nationalism is a problem. I think it's good when people get behind their man - I normally always support the British fighter e.g. GGG is one of my favourite fighters but I was rooting for Brook, I'm not a massive fan of DeGale but was rooting him against Dirrell/Jack etc.

But to answer your question without using nationalism, then I would still go for Joshua. Just purely down to which style is more exciting to watch, the potentially for even bigger fights. If Wlad wins, I'm pretty convinced he will retire. If Joshua wins, the possibility of Joshua v Fury, Joshua v Wilder, Joshua v Parker etc is a very big.

[caldo2025]

Joshua. Because Wlad is the worst heavyweight champion in history.

[Nightmare Roy]

Heard Dillian White in an interview say one of the reasons that Klit wants this fight is that he would be the only HW to beat 3 Olympic gold medalists, just an interesting fact I thought.

[Nightmare Roy]

Joshua. Because Wlad is the worst heavyweight champion in history.

really Prince Charles perhaps?

[Tanzio]

Joshua. Because Wlad is the worst heavyweight champion in history.

Ladies and gentleman, in case you may have missed it in previous appearances, let's all hear it for The Dumbest Post In Boxrec History

[jezzamundo]

Joshua. Because Wlad is the worst heavyweight champion in history.

Most boring is debatable - worst is not.

[Badhusker]

I am hoping Joshua wins it, but not an easy ko. Wlad may have learned something from the Fury fight, and this is a whole different match-up. I won't be as shocked as most if Wlad wins. Joshua needs rounds more than anything, and if Wlad wasn't 40 yrs old, I would say they are moving him way too fast.

[KiwiRider]

Joshua winning is better for boxing and the division. But you can tell Wlad wants this fight more than he wanted Fury.
I hope for an entertaining fight, the biggest live boxing event this century. 90,000 poms half pissed in a stadium will be entertaining anyway. AJ is way popular in the UK, and I think he is the future.
I still think it is a close match if Wlad turns up in A1 shape. Can't wait

[HyacinthusTurnipseed]

Heard Dillian White in an interview say one of the reasons that Klit wants this fight is that he would be the only HW to beat 3 Olympic gold medalists, just an interesting fact I thought.

But Ali already beat 3 Olympic gold medallists: Frazier, Foreman and Leon Spinks. And Holmes beat 3 too: Ali, L Spinks and Mercer.

[Tarkus]

I am fully behind Joshua. He is the only one on the horizon with a potential to take the reins of the HW division post Klitschko. He is a natural next champion, with championship qualities both inside and outside the ring. If he beats Klitschko that means we are entering a new era in HW boxing.