Deontay Wilder is the man Anthony Joshua wants next – but if Tyson Fury ever gets fit again he could prove the tougher testAt some point, surely, the money will talk. And the negotiations between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, which increasingly carry the pheromonal whiff of a secondary‑school playground, will conclude with the planet’s two hardest-punching heavyweights putting their belts on the line in an epic reunification fight.But even if Joshua creates history – as I expect him to do – by adding Wilder’s WBC belt to his WBA, IBF and WBO titles, thus becoming the first heavyweight to hold all four major belts at the same time, there is another fighter with the pedigree and x-factor to give...
Las Vegas has long been boxing’s most aspirational platform, but the Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko fight in London may signal a shift in the sport’s commercial centre of gravityAnthony Joshua lingered in the ring at Wembley Stadium as midnight struck on Sunday morning, bathing in the afterglow of the famous night that saw him write his name indelibly into his country’s rich fistic lore. It had been more than an hour since the 27-year-old from Watford had come off the canvas to violently dispense of Wladimir Klitschko in the most gripping heavyweight title contest since the first bout between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson more than a generation ago, yet the former Olympic champion was content to delay his retreat to...
Wladimir Klitschko had Anthony Joshua on the canvas in sixth round – ‘I thought he wouldn’t get up’ – and Ukrainian is unsure over a rematchNo heavyweight champion in history has achieved so much, yet been admired so little, as Wladimir Klitschko. During a career spanning two decades and 29 world title fights the man known as Dr Steelhammer has accumulated many victories and championship belts – and even more jibes about being merely an automaton with a pummelling left jab and a crushing right hand. Yet, as the 41-year-old addressed the 90,000 crowd at Wembley following his brave defeat to Anthony Joshua on Saturday, he was greeted with something both rare and welcome: a thunderous outpouring of affection and...
The crowd had the privilege of sharing in an electric feeling unmatched in sport as they lived every second of a brutal, seesawing, enthralling fightSomehow, at the end of this brutal, seesawing, whirligig of a fight, Anthony Joshua still had the energy to stand on the ring apron, revel in the glorious applause of 90,000 people and pound his chest in triumph. The rest of us were left breathless after one of the greatest heavyweight fights in a generation.Beforehand everyone was playing guessing games about how much Klitschko had left at 41. The last time he had fought, against Tyson Fury in November 2015, he had still looked as sculpted as a Greek statue – but was about as mobile....
Kell Brook’s trainer looks at where Saturday’s Wembley sellout world heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and the 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko may be won and lostI am not convinced, as many people seem to be, that Anthony Joshua will blast through Wladimir Klitschko. Of course, it could happen. But if Klitschko has anything left in the tank, I expect him to drag Joshua deeper into the trenches than ever before. The Ukrainian may even be able to spring a surprise late on – if he can navigate the early rounds.I know that puts me in the minority. But I keep wondering whether too much has been made of Klitschko’s defeat by Tyson Fury. Yes, he looked awful that night: slow...