Joshua: I Took Klitschko Fight Because Our Division Needed It

By Keith Idec

Anthony Joshua could’ve taken safer fights and still made millions.

The unbeaten British knockout artist has quickly become a superstar in England, where capacity crowds of roughly 20,000 have turned out even for mismatches he won just as easily as expected. But the IBF heavyweight champion wanted to challenge himself and felt it was necessary to take fights that could propel the heavyweight division – and his blossoming career – sooner rather than later.

A $12.5 million guarantee obviously didn’t hurt, but that’s why Joshua embraced Wladimir Klitschko as the opponent for just his 19th professional fight. They’ll meet Saturday at a sold-out Wembley Stadium in London, where a crowd of approximately 90,000 will assemble for their heavyweight title fight (Showtime: 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT; HBO: 11 p.m. ET/PT).

“I felt it was bound to happen,” Joshua said Wednesday during a conference call. “I felt the division needed it. I’m not doing it just for myself. This is why I say sometimes I’m worried about the industry. And a lot of my friends from the amateur system have the chance to express their skills on the undercard. And it’s a massive platform. And as I said, I think the division needed it.

“So I said, ‘Yo, if these fights aren’t gonna happen, let me step out. Let me get it cracking.’ And at the end of the day, it’s only a fight, you know? Wladimir Klitschko, Deontay Wilder, let’s keep it going. Let’s start mixing it up, because we’re in the same division, in the heavyweight division. It’s our era. What type of an era are we if we don’t come together and have trilogies and bring some excitement. So I’m all for it. So that’s why I really wanted to take the fight.”

The 27-year-old Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) didn’t realistically think a fight against an aging Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) was possible until last year, especially after Klitschko’s rematch against Tyson Fury fell apart twice. The 41-year-old Klitschko hasn’t fought since England’s Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) upset him by unanimous decision and took Klitschko’s IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles nearly 17 months ago in Dusseldorf, Germany.

“In 2015, I really wasn’t focused on fighting Klitschko, you know?,” said Joshua, who won the IBF title by knocking out American Charles Martin in the second round last April 9 at O2 Arena in London. “I wasn’t actually focused on fighting Klitschko. And yeah, I was like, moving toward – after [beating Eric] Molina [on December 10], we could’ve maybe done [Kubrat] Pulev as our mandatory, you know, and gone down that route and dominated the European market. You know, [Luis] Ortiz and these guys.

“But the opportunity came up [to fight Klitschko], and it’s a big fight, it’s a good challenge and let’s get it cracking. As I said, it’s good for the division and the attention it’s brought is phenomenal. And I think it benefits everyone, so let’s be part of that. Let’s be at the forefront of all this.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.