Klitschko Admits Ring Rust Could Emerge in '50-50' Joshua Bout

By Edward Chaykovsky

Former heavyweight division ruler Wladimir Klitschko realizes that his upcoming contest with Anthony Joshua is a 50-50 fight with no clear winner.

Klitschko is coming back from a long layoff when he steps in the ring with Joshua on April 29th before a massive crowd of 90,000 fans at Wembley. The IBF, WBA, IBO heavyweight titles will be at stake in the fight.

The former champion has been out of the ring since losing a twelve round decision to Tyson Fury in a major upset back in Novemver of 2015 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Between his long layoff, a career that started back in 1996, and being 41 years old, Klitschko is not surprised at all that oddsmakers have him pegged as a big underdog.

Klitschko was scheduled to face Fury in a rematch on two separate dates. Both of them fell through after Fury withdrew on both occasions. Coming back from the longest sting of inactivity of his entire career, even Klitschko has no idea if he'll be suffering the effects of ring rust.

"This is the longest break I have had in 27 years since I started boxing as an amateur. I never had a pass for a year and half before. Is this bad or good? Have I got rusty? I just don’t know. I feel good, but we will see. I have had a marked improvement since I lost to Fury. But I have to answer this for myself at Wembley when I am up against a young, strong guy," Klitschko said.

"It’s obvious that that both fighters are on the same level. This one is 50-50. Can the young guy make it? Has the old guy still got it? We will find out. This is a great match for the sport of boxing. This is such a big fight with such a big meaning."

"Normally when you lose, you have to get to the back of the line for another title fight. But I have got this great challenge against AJ because my rematch against Fury didn't happen. It isn't logical. But it's a great opportunity."