Fighters don’t tend to continue into their 40s all that often.
The intelligent ones, in particular, typically get out before it’s too late with their faculties intact.
You simply won’t find a more intelligent fighter than Wladimir Klitschko and few would have expected the Ukrainian to still find himself competing at 41 years of age.
But Klitschko’s physique as he took to the scales on Friday ahead of his Wembley clash with Joshua would lead you to believe that he’s certainly in shape and prepared for his comeback fight.
Two years ago, few could have predicted that ‘AJ’ and Klitschko would one day share the ring with one another.
Joshua was merely 18 months into his professional career in May 2015 while Klitschko remained the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
It was not believed that Joshua could make it to the top of the division in time to meet ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ before he hung up his gloves.
But Joshua always had a sneaking suspicion that he was destined for a match-up with Klitschko.
In a fascinating interview from Joshua from 2015, ahead of his second round victory over Kevin Johnson, it was put to the Brit that a fight with Klitschko was unlikely. That assertion was promptly rejected by the London 2012 gold medallist.
“It’s very likely,” Joshua insisted in an interview with the Guardian two years ago. “You know boxing.
“A great world champion and the new prospect would be a huge fight. My gut says it will definitely happen.
“What makes a champion great is how he dethrones the guy before him. Look at Mike Tyson against Trevor Berbick and how he crushed him. You have to rip the title away from him.
“In order to become a great you have to beat the current champion in totally dominant fashion. That’s why I would like to fight Klitschko.”
The year before that interview, Joshua travelled to Austria to train with Klitschko ahead of his title defence against Kubrat Pulev.
“It’s very interesting,” Joshua said of the kind words that Klitschko had for the youngster back in 2014. “A lot of UK heavyweights never give you a compliment.
“But Wlad, who has an Olympic medal and is the second-longest-running world champ after Joe Louis, can give me these unbelievable props.
“Someone like Tyson Fury says he would knock out Wlad but it’s not based on logic. He just says: ‘Wlad’s shit.’ I want to say ‘shut up’ to those kind of guys. They’ve done nothing compared to Klitschko.”
