By Edward Chaykovsky
According to former undisputed world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, ex-division king Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53KOs) is still the man to beat at heavyweight.
Klitschko has been inactive since losing his IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO world titles with a shocking twelve round decision loss to Tyson Fury last November in Germany. Because of the win, Fury became the top man at heavyweight - but then he withdrew from two scheduled rematches with Klitschko and later he vacated his world titles to properly deal with a mental breakdown.
Now Klitschko is being lined up to fight current IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17KOs), who returns next Saturday night against Eric Molina in Manchester. The fight with Klitschko is being targeted for a date in March or April.
Lewis expects Joshua to have very few issues with Molina. He expects Joshua to close the show in three rounds.
"I think Anthony Joshua has a good fight in the sense it's not going to be difficult. Obviously he's still got to watch out and not take any chances. I think it should be a three round fight for him," Lewis said to Fairfax Media.
Whether it's Joshua, the Joseph Parker vs. Andy Ruiz winner or WBC champion Deontay Wilder - Lewis believes the first person to defeat Klitschko will become the next division ruler.
"The heavyweight division is wide open now, it's there for the taking. It's really down to who wants to step in there first, step into the arena first, and take that chance against Klitschko," Lewis said.
"Klitschko's armour has been hitched in the sense he's lost already, so he's there, he's beatable and he can be beat. He is still the man to beat right now. I feel kind of bad for him because his belts have gone all over the place right now.
"The guy who beat him (Fury), he's not that able to step back into the ring and face him, and now he's supposed to fight Anthony Joshua and that fell through. The man he really wants to fight is Tyson Fury. So I think he's just sitting back, regressing and thinking about his next move."
