Anthony Joshua vs Vitali Klitschko

Vitali UD or SD (if it's in the UK), possibly TKO but I'm not convinced Vitali can stop him.

AJ doesn't have the greatest chin but he's not Lennox Lewis either. If Lewis can take Vitali's best shots then AJ can probably take some too and likely wouldn't get hit as much since he's not as sloppy as Lewis, especially if he fights safe like against Parker, Ruiz II, Usyk etc.

Another good example of Vitali's lack of stopping power at HW (and there are many) is the Sanders fight. Honestly, Sanders was just taking a barrage to the head round after round once he tired and look how long it took Doctor Meathead to stop him, and I don't think he even put Sanders down. Vitali was seriously underpowered for a 6'6 man.

 

While I don’t entirely agree with you I do think Vitali is often unfairly written off based on the Byrd performance. Duran quit against Leonard but that didn’t define his career. Still it is a serious red marker against him (and Vitali).

I’love also say put NEETs on ignore and don’t respond to his obvious bait - you will save yourself time not feeding that troll.

 

Vitali outboxed Lewis from range, Joshua isn't winning this fight by boxing, Vitali has far better control of range and lateral movement. Vitali's head movement and ability to play with distance would have Joshua reaching in and falling short. Joshua would have to do what Lewis did and step in and commit to an aggressive approach to get inside and disrupt Vitali's outside game. Plus Vitali's work rate would see him win many rounds on work rate alone.

I don't see Joshua stopping Vitali either, Lewis was able to hurt him but not sufficiently enough to really look like stopping him and I don't think Joshua can sustain the kind of all out assault required to force a stoppage as he'd have to take his foot off the gas or risk gassing out.

So he can't stop him or out box him, so unless he does what Lewis did and hits him enough to force a stoppage on cuts I don't see Joshua winning. Vitali was simply more skilled and better all round.

 

I want to add something to this discussion that everyone is overlooking.

AJ is taller than anyone Vitali had fought, Vitali's style is best suited when he has substantial height advantage, something he wouldn't have over Joshua, he wouldn't be able to just step back out of range like he was able to Vs most of his opponents who were 6'1 - 6'3

I'd favour Vitali but it wouldn't be one sided at all

 

TBF that was a very raw, young version of AJ.

But I still think Vitali KO's AJ.

That being said, who did Vitali beat that was better than AJ?

 

Vitali had that aura and presence around him that would certainly create self doubt in Joshua long before that first bell was ever rung. The mental side of Joshua is his Achilles heel and the poker faced presence of Vitali looking across the ring at him would definitely give Joshua a lot to think about but I think once the fight started Joshua would grow into it and no doubt have a few moments before either retreating into his shell and losing by wide UD or getting stopped due to tiredness and accumulative punches from Vitali .

 

Isn’t Vitali also taller than anybody that Joshua has fought

 

He fought a couple 6'7 guys, not that it matters

 

My bad Brezeale and Cornish are listed as 6’7”,not that they offer the same challenge as Vitali would pose .

 

Timo Hoffman was half an inch taller than Joshua, though obviously nowhere as good as AJ. Also while Lewis was shorter he had a huge wingspan for his height and had a bigger reach than either Joshua or Vitali but that didn't really help Lewis on the outside vs Vitali.

I don't see Joshua being able to compete with Vitali on the outside regardless of Joshua's height and reach. Lewis war far better than AJ on the outside yet Vitali despite have a 4 inch reach disadvantage against Lewis controlled the fight on the outside, because of his brilliant judge of distance and lateral movement.

 

Clear win for Vitaly, just too tough, just too much 'natural' fighter, much better chin and doesn't fold under pressure. Vitaly would have beat out that Muhammad guy also.

 

Vitali would intimidate the hell out of the weak minded mental midget Joshua and stop him in the mid rounds. Easy fight for Vitali.

 

I can already Joshua grinning while trying to get up from a massive uppercut landing in round 2. Ko by round 5.

 

I went with the Vitali by TKO. He would be much too tough and busy for Joshua.

And that is not big praise for VK at all, the fact that his fanboys have to keep saying how great he was against an old fat tired almost retired Lewis is laughable. Any good heavyweight worth his salt should have beaten LL that night.

 

People say AJ was green, but in hindsight that was the start of his prime, which went on until Ruiz 1. Look how tenacious and fearless AJ was. Looked like a menace through the whole fight.

What fight was Aj's prime, in your opinion? Because if I was to pick a prime AJ to fight Vitali, it'd be from the Wlad, Pov, or Parker fights, which were little over a year apart (and I think he'd lose).