I know people on here would disagree with me, but I never saw Fury as legitimate. He caught Klitschko on Klitschko's way down.
With Klitschko's power and experience, anything can happen. I'm hoping for the best, but also keeping an eye on the new guys coming up.
limitless -
I’ve made no secret of my dislike of Fury’s arrogant, loudmouthed posturing and constant references to his “persecuted” Traveller “ethnicity” but he was a truly splendid technical boxer whose skills, speed and movement were a pleasure to behold.
Fury’s superb pugilistic ability allowed him to maximise the natural advantage of his monster reach. But any Euclidean distance-related benefits bestowed by his 6’9” physique were tempered by the fact that Fury’s body naturally runs to fat. Consequently, he found it difficult to keep his weight down and the challenges of having to do so appear to have been a constant psychological burden.
Fury’s various post-championship interviews indicate that he despised the gym work and dietary discipline required to “manage” his weight. It’s obvious he was far more interested in technique than conditioning. The latter, of course, constitutes an indispensable part of professional boxing.
Fury plainly went to great lengths to shed weight and increase his stamina for the Klitschko fight. It appears he lacked the self discipline to persist with the lifestyle sacrifices necessary for the maintenance of such strict training regimens. Tyson Fury embodies the oft-quoted assertion that superior ability alone does not always guarantee lasting success in modern professional sport.
Anyway, let’s get back on topic.
Anthony Joshua will be far easier to hit than Fury was. If Klitschko’s jab returns to even its most basic level of effectiveness the Ukrainian’s standard tactical approach means Joshua would be getting hit far more often than he has been accustomed to.
Speculation about Joshua’s chin abounds, much of which is fuelled by predictable comparisons with that other black “British” muscle-head - Frank Bruno. Bruno has become a popular byword for an ultra-fragile glass jaw but such an assessment is unfair as he actually succumbed to lengthy combinations of hefty shots in each of his losses. Bruno’s weakness wasn’t a classic crystalline mandible. Instead, it was a panicked inability to psychologically recover from the shock of taking a really big punch, particularly in the latter stages of title fights. His self-belief under pressure was always questionable and he tended to freeze after copping an initial huge blow thereby leaving himself open to an immediate barrage of destructive follow ups.
Joshua hasn’t copped any really heavy shots from the clowns he has hitherto faced - with the exception of a substantial left courtesy of Dillian Whyte (at 2:05 of the video below) which stunned him in the second round of their fight last December. He took a while to shake off its effects but Whyte was unable to capitalise on Joshua’s unsteadiness. I’m sure the likes of Klitschko would have finished Joshua off in a similar situation.
Despite his “advanced” - at least in terms of sport - age, I reckon Klitschko may still be better equipped to cope with the rigours of a fight that goes beyond nine rounds. Joshua’s unmistakably roiled-up physique will obviously drain more and more energy as the second half of the bout drags on.
If Klitschko can keep sticking jabs on the comparatively static Joshua through the first half of the fight while controlling the distance to avoid suffering damage himself, I’m of the opinion that the “Briton” (cough) will start to run out of steam after round nine or ten. That’s when the Negro may begin to panic and I’m hoping Klitschko can take advantage to either knock Joshua out or achieve the knockdowns necessary for an iron-clad points victory. Bulky steroid muscles may be useful for extra power, may aid in taking punches and may provide cosmetic intimidation value but they double up as a drag on erythrocyte efficiency in the final stages of twelve round contests.
Let’s keep in mind that Joshua has never fought more than seven rounds. In fact, Joshua has never even fought a millii-second longer than six and a half rounds - and all of this against opponents who weren’t particularly “challenging”. Barring any disasters stemming from a lucky punch or the Ukrainian’s potential age-related ill-preparedness / hyper-hesitation I don’t believe the Negro will knock Klitschko out.
