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SPORTSSaturday 29 April 2017
Is Anthony Joshua boxing’s next great heavyweight?
TIM DAHLBERG
AP Boxing Writer
LONDON (AP) — Anthony
Joshua has the weight of
a country on his shoulders,
and a fighter with true
heavyweight pedigree in
the ring across from him.
Add to that 90,000 scream-
ing fans watching outdoors
Saturday night at Wembley
Stadium, and there’s plen-
ty of potential trouble for a Oddsmakers believe that
fighter born the same year
that Wladimir Klitschko be-
gan boxing.
The fact Joshua is taking it
so all so calmly says a lot
about his chances of be-
coming boxing’s next big-
gest thing.
“It’s not complicated,”
Joshua said. “It’s not rocket
science. I’ll win.”
Just five years after win-
ning the heavyweight gold
at the London Olympics,
Joshua meets Klitschko in
a classic matchup that has
boxing fans eagerly antici-
pating what could be the
future of the heavyweight
division.
It’s youth against experi-
ence, ring savvy against
speed and pure power.
It’s also the biggest heavy-
weight fight in more than a
decade, a bout so attrac-
tive that not one, but two,
U.S. television networks are
broadcasting it.
Another fighter might be
caught up in the moment.
Joshua just seems to be en-
joying it — along with the
promise of many to come.
Murray and Nadal advance to
Barcelona Open semifinals
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) —
Rafael Nadal and Andy
Murray advanced togeth-
er again, reaching the Bar-
celona Open semifinals on
Friday in the same manner
they have won all week:
Nadal cruised and Murray
labored.
Defending champion
Nadal eased past Hyeon
Chung of South Korea 7-6
(1), 6-2.
Murray fought hard to beat
Albert Ramos-Vinolas of
Spain 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Ramos-Vinolas had chanc-
es to beat Murray for the
second straight time, but
British boxer Anthony Joshua, left, and Ukrainian boxer Wladimir
Klitschko take part in their weigh-in at Wembley Arena in Lon-
don, Friday, April 28, 2017.
“It’s just me and another
man coming to blows and
the best man will win,” the
British fighter said. “April
29th is just another stepping
stone to greatness.”
to be true, making Joshua
a 2-1 favorite in the third
defense of his piece of the
heavyweight title. Only 18
fights into his pro career
— all won by knockout —
Joshua is already a huge
star in his native land and
the top-ranked British play-
er controlled the decisive
points to close out the
match in three hours.
The 19th-ranked Ramos-Vi-
nolas eliminated Murray in
the third round at the Mon-
te Carlo Masters last week
before eventually losing to
Nadal in the final.
“It was very similar to the
match in Monte Carlo, ex-
cept in that match I was
the one who had chances,
and today he had more
chances to win,” Murray
said. “I feel like I was a lit- to serve out the match. In
tle more aggressive at the
end of the second and
is coming off a spectacu-
lar third round knockout of
Eric Molina and has never
gone beyond seven rounds
Associated Press in any of his fights. At the
age of 27 he’s also 14 years
potentially on the fast track younger than Klitschko,
to the greatness he aspires who looked every bit his
to. “I think it’s just destiny,” age against Fury.
Joshua said. “I’m meant for “Youth is a great thing to
this. I’m built for this.” have,” said Freddie Roach,
It’s the first time that the who once trained Klitsch-
41-year-old Klitschko can ko. “This is Joshua’s biggest
remember being an under- test. If he passes this one,
dog in a fight, though with he’s on his way.”
good reason. He reigned If the test is big, so are the
unbeaten for 11 years, win- fighters. Both stand 6-foot-6
ning 22 fights in a row be- and both have the kind of
fore Tyson Fury upset him in power that could bring the
a desultory fight in 2015. fight to a quick halt before
Joshua, on the other hand, the 12-round limit. Joshua
weighed in Friday before
thousands of eager fans at
250.1 pounds, while Klitsch-
ko was 240.5.
Joshua’s potential weak-
ness is that he’s never been
in the ring with a fighter the
caliber of Klitschko, who is
a remarkable 64-4 with 53
knockouts in a career that
began after he won an
Olympic gold of his own in
the 1996 Olympics in Atlan-
ta. “I’ve been very, very for-
tunate with having Joshua
as my opponent,” Klitschko
told The Associated Press.
“He’s either great or I’m still fight.
great. The question marks
on both fighters make this a
fight for the fans.”
The fans in this boxing-mad
country have responded,
quickly snapping up all
90,000 tickets for the bout.
The fight is on pay-per-view
third sets and then played
a good tiebreak.”
Murray will play fourth-
seeded Dominic Thiem
of Austria, who defeated
lucky loser Yuichi Sugita of
Japan 6-1, 6-2.
Murray comfortably won
the tiebreaker from a 4-0
lead, but he only got there
after saving seven break
points and converting all
three he had against Ra-
mos-Vinolas.
The Spaniard broke at 4-4 in
the decisive set but failed
the second set, Ramos-
Vinolas squandered two
Andy Murray of Britain eyes the ball before playing a return shot
to Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain during a quarterfinal match at
the Barcelona Open Tennis Tournament in Barcelona, Spain, Fri-
day, April 28, 2017.
break points at 3-3, and Murray to enter Barcelona.
three at 4-4.
Losing to Ramos-Vinolas for the French Open follow-
at Monte Carlo prompted ing a right elbow injury.q
in England and on premi-
um cable in the U.S., where
Showtime will show it live
Saturday afternoon and on
HBO later that night.
Though the fight has drawn
massive hype in England,
Joshua said he is treating it
just like any other bout.
“I simplify it,” he said. “I
practice boxing. Long
range jab, jab to the body.
I think I’m very capable
of hitting someone con-
tinuously until they break
down. So I think I’ll keep on
plugging away, round six or
seven, I should have him in
a bad place. I just have to
take the fight and break it
down round by round.”
Klitschko, who has long
been criticized for the de-
fensive posture he adopt-
ed after being knocked
out by Lamon Brewster 13
years ago, says he realizes
now that many boxing fans
never warmed up to him
despite his dominance of
the heavyweight division
for a decade.
He vowed to change his
ways against Joshua, and
spent weeks in training
camp in Austria obsessing
about winning what he
says will be his signature
“It got more exciting since I
left the top,” the Ukrainian
said. “It’s not as boring as
it was with me during all
these years. You can like
me or hate me, but when
one person conquers it is
boring. I totally get it.”q
Associated Press
He’s out to regain his form