By Keith Idec

Anthony Joshua really respects what Wladimir Klitschko accomplished for over a decade.

Though doubt about Klitschko’s chin lingers 13 years after he suffered the second of technical knockout defeats to Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster in 2003 and 2004, Joshua isn’t underestimating the 41-year-old former champion’s ability to take a punch. The unbeaten IBF heavyweight champion wants to knock out Klitschko on Saturday in London, but the hard-hitting Joshua expects Klitschko to withstand at least some of his powerful punches when they square off at Wembley Stadium (Showtime: 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT; HBO: 11 p.m. ET/PT).

Klitschko held a lot and often was unwilling to engage after Brewster stopped him in the fifth round of their April 2004 title fight in Las Vegas. But the huge Ukrainian hasn’t been knocked down in any of his past 20 fights, a stretch that dates back to April 2006.

The last fighter to knock him down was Samuel Peter.

The heavy-handed Nigerian scored three knockdowns against Klitschko in their first fight, though at least one of those knockdowns was questionable because Peter appeared to push Klitschko to the canvas. Klitschko still out-boxed Peter and won that 12-round bout by unanimous decision in September 2005 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

“He’s got a good chin,” Joshua said Wednesday during a conference call. “How long did he reign? Ten years? Yeah, he’s got a good chin, man. You can’t be a championship fighter for 10 years with a bad chin. So, you know, that’s what they say about the heavyweight division – it takes one shot. All these fighters that we claim have got good chins are the ones who got knocked out by Wladimir, right? He must be doing something right, for sure.

“I remember Samuel Peter and [others]. They had granite chins, but they still ended up getting knocked out down the line and they don’t go on to do great things. So regardless of the chin, I think he’s doing something right that works for him.”

The 27-year-old Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) is slightly more than a 2-1 favorite over Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs), who hasn’t fought since Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) upset him in their 12-round fight nearly 17 months ago in Dusseldorf, Germany.

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