Classic Fights: Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko

Classic Fights: Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko

By Aidan O’Connor

When I think of my all-time favourite boxing match ups of all time. There’s one that stands out from the rest, the fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017.

This one was the ultimate match up, Joshua, the unbeaten world heavyweight champion against one of the greatest of all time, Klitschko. This fight had everything, both men giving it their all and both men hitting the canvas at the sold-out show at Wembley Stadium.

Coming into the fight at 18-0 and still developing so much of his talent, Joshua was focused on the task ahead and showed great respect to the career and ability that Klitschko possessed with all interviews and press conferences focused on the aspect of it being ‘Just Business’ between the two.

Klitschko also reciprocated great respect but maintained that he would be the first person to beat the undefeated young athlete and had for sure put the Tyson Fury defeat behind him.

Round 1 begins and the sound is deafening from the packed-out arena. Every single punch landed would get a huge roar from the crowd. AJ looking incredibly relaxed in the first round whilst Klitschko was the aggressor for most of it, walking AJ down and putting on the pressure and making sure than he was on his back foot throughout.

The pair exchanged a few powerful hooks and measured the distance with a lot of jabs, but this was nothing more than a taster of what was to come. Round one finishes and nothing too much to report on. The two were warmed up and ready to go again.

As the second round begins the pair meet in the middle of the ring and immediately begin striking with powerful combos. Both fighters landing but Klitschko’s footwork just seemed to be keeping him an inch or two out of the danger zone.

The sheer speed of the strikes coming in from both fighters was incredible with a few powerful shots landing. However, this round was very much like the first as it was the two assessing the distance and speed of their opponent.

Round 3 and AJ just seemed to turn up the levels striking with some beautiful combos and landing some heavy shots. Enough to make Klitschko step back several times.

AJ landed a beautiful uppercut which left Wlad stunned momentarily and for the rest of the round began to apply the pressure.

Round 4 and you could just feel that the heat was about to be turned up. The time for testing the water was over. The two once again met in the centre of the ring with Klitschko starting the more powerful, landing some heavy shots and making AJ take a step back.

Klitschko continued to pile on the pressure throughout, landing some absolute bombs and seemingly rocking AJ. Klitschko had clearly had the better of AJ in this round and his confidence was growing.

The bell rings for the start of the fifth round and instantly AJ lands a beautiful combo which wobbles Klitschko and has him staggering across the ring, AJ then continues to apply the pressure before landing a flurry of hooks that left his opponent face down on the canvas.

The crowd was erupting at this point as the referee began to count to 10. The referee managed to get to 9 before Klitschko picked himself up and attempted to re compose himself. AJ then came towards his throwing huge strikes, maybe a few too many as he seemed to tire not long afterwards.

It did not take Klitschko long to recover and he dished out a lot of damage on AJ, hurting him with every strike he was throwing, almost having AJ out on his feet. The dynamic had changed, Joshua was now fighting for survival. Saved by the bell.

The beginning of round 6 and AJ seemed to still be wobbling from the previous round whilst Klitschko had seemed to have completely recovered. AJ had gone from the hunter to the hunted and you could see on his face that he was perplexed as to what was happening and then it came, a HUGE right hand that was being set up perfectly. AJ had been dropped for the first time in his professional career.

The rest of round 6 was very much AJ trying to hang on and Klitschko trying to set up that one final punch to end the fight.

Nothing much happened in round 7 or 8 it was still very much AJ beginning to recover and Klitschko trying to find those gaps. Round 9 begins and the two both looked incredibly fresh, both on their toes and moving very fast and freely whilst throwing a large volume of shots.

Round 10. This fight had already cemented itself into one of the fights of recent years. The pair looked relatively fresh as they both squared up once again in the centre of the ring. Klitschko controlling the distance as he had for most of the rounds but when AJ landed the shots you could see the power he was producing. Any shot here could end the fight on either side.

The eleventh round and once again AJ landed some huge left hooks which wobbled Klitschko in the opening seconds of the round. He then chased Klitschko down and began to unload some huge strikes. AJ then landed a beautiful counter strike uppercut which instantly rocked Klitschko and had him stumbling backwards, AJ then pounced on him and reigned down a flurry of punches which left Klitschko once again face down on the canvas. He struggled to get back to his feet but managed to beat the count, AJ came forward and reigned an incredible volume of heavy strikes once again ending with Klitschko down on the canvas for the third time in the fight.

Once again, the veteran showed tremendous heart and managed to get back to his feet. It would not be enough though as AJ produced more and more shots with the referee needing to step in to save Klitschko from further punishment.

This fight was written down as one for the ages and it did not disappoint, both men leaving everything they had out on the ring. The veteran v the young lion. This will go down in history as one of the greatest heavyweight fights of all time.