In the ides of April earlier this year, 90,000 civilians at Wembley stadium and the millions across the world had access to one of the most memorable heavyweight brawls of the past decade! Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko pit the old lion vs. the young bull in a game of wit and attrition. They each had their moments in the battle exchanging a tremendous amount of heavy blows early on. Klitschko did not play his clinch game with rabbit punches to score, he knew he would have to fight for his life and legacy in this one...and he did!
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Dr. Steelhammer in my opinion was in fact winning on the score cards, the rounds previous to his 11th round demise were actually won by Wlad spectacularly. He had knocked Joshua down earlier in the fight, and he started to aggressively pour on damage in the 9th and 10th rounds. Joshua himself showed immense heart and capability to land power blows very late into the fight; for a man so heavily muscled, it was shocking how great AJ's cardio was.
I thought the first match was an instant classic, and as a fan of both men...I definitely need to see it ran back! I guarantee the fight would sell out Wembley again, and I only say that because the first fight was so close until it ended. 3 and a half more minutes in that fight may shown us a different champion that night. The former undisputed champion in Tyson Fury seems to have vacated his belts and his own mind, so until then Klitschko understands that he must fill the void. A rematch is a guaranteed shot at the tite once more, and this may be the last shot for either Klitschko to be king again...
The good news for us is that Klitschko is a funny guy, and he is making us wait a few days for his decision...as he has done many times in the past. The IBF boxing organization whom these men are vying for titles for has set some stipulations in play, but nothing drastic: Klistchko must accept to rematch AJ before October 28th, or if not by then he can set the date by early December. After the rematch there is no option for a trilogy fight (just yet), as there is a stalker in the plains named Kabrat Pulev who is the mandatory for the current champion. We will see how this plays out, but I'm betting we see another classic heavyweight bout between these two giants before year's end!