Wladimir Klitschko Sees His Past Self When Looking at Anthony Joshua
Stop us if you've heard this one before.
A mammoth heavyweight boxer parlays Olympic gold into a quick professional championship and sets his sights on long-term domination of the sport's most glamorous division.
It's a particularly familiar tale to Wladimir Klitschko, who wore Ukrainian colors as he ascended the medals stand at the 1996 Summer Games and was already a five-defense world belt-holder as a 26-year-old.
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These days, as birthday No. 41 approaches, the 6'6" giant is watching with interest as a similarly golden phenom—in the form of 2012 Olympic champ Anthony Joshua—embarks on the very same sort of journey.
His interest will be particularly keen come April 29 when the old man plans to position himself as a 240-pound Wembley Stadium roadblock.
"I see myself in him," Klitschko told Bleacher Report. "He's an athlete. He is my size. He's like a copy of me. We're pretty much similar except for the age difference. I think it's going to be a challenge for both of us. Not just for myself, to fight a young man, but also for Anthony as well."
The two will compete for the IBF title belt that Joshua captured eight months ago with a thudding KO of Charles Martin. The IBO and WBA baubles will also be up for grabs, as the foes attempt to fill a power vacuum created when Tyson Fury vacated his throne to concentrate on recovery from cocaine use and depression.
Klitschko had possessed all those belts—along with the WBO's—before losing a surprise decision to Fury when they met in November 2015.
Years before, in the afterglow of his own Olympic glory, Klitschko experienced his first run as WBO champion—winning the title at age 24 and defending five times before a shocking loss to Corrie Sanders a few weeks before he turned 27.
He was considered a spent force at age 28 following another loss to Lamon Brewster three fights later but instead replied with a 22-fight streak that yielded four title belts, 18 successful defenses and 15 KOs while carrying him to age 39.
Not surprisingly then, considering the 14-year gap that will exist on fight night, it's being framed as more help than hurt.
"Numbers don't lie," Klitschko said. "[But] I think it's more of an advantage than [a] disadvantage. I didn't like my 20s at all because you're young, you're successful, but there's also a lot of concerns and unknown parts of yourself. Also, in certain ways, insecurities.
"Even if you look strong and you knock everybody out [Joshua has stopped all 18 of the opponents he's faced], there's certainly insecurity as well. I do love my 30s and 40s so far. It's not a definite disadvantage. It also has a positive side."
Muddying the waters is the reality that when he meets Joshua, Klitschko will have spent 17 months on the shelf since the Fury fight—his longest period of inactivity as an amateur or professional.
Joshua has fought four times—logging 19 rounds—in the same stretch, but his 44 total rounds as a pro are fewer than Klitschko has gone in his last five fights alone (46) and more than 300 less than total he's seen since a 1996 debut (358), when Joshua was a teenager.
Another benefit, says the more experienced man.
"I had both guns cocked. I had them cocked for a year, and by the time I'll be in the ring, it's going to be a year-and-a-half since my last fight," Klitschko said. "I'm just looking forward to letting my energy go and actually shooting those guns.
"He has 18 fights so far. I'm going to be his 19th fight, and it's going to be different for him than positions he's been in before."
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