Joshua At Career Highest Weight... Thoughts?

agree totally. Bigger muscles need a lot of oxygen and going into the later rounds he will gas. Looks like he is planning for an aggressive early start and hoping for an early ko. might work....probably won't. Still calling it for Klitschko by KO....round 7.

 

I said a while ago that Joshua should not be looking to get any bigger, bukled, muscley or heavier than he was. He does not need to generate any more power than he does, you can get to the point where your physique becomes a hinderance to your performance. I think he is already at that stage.

I was quite dissapointed to hear he came in at this weight for this fight. Speed is definatly the key tonight. The man with the faster hands takes control of the fight, theres very little between the 2 in hand speed, i go with Joshua to win because i think he just edges the handspeed over Wlad but the bigger he gets the more he will slow down all round. And he aint ever done 12, i dont think we will see 12 tonight but thats more weight to carry around through the rounds.

 

He was never going to match him for speed so I guess they thought it was an area they could never compete on. In terms of movement I think it won't change much, Wlad has never been that hard to close the range on, he doesn't move well laterally, but he does have quick feet. But Joshua will need to apply consistent pressure to get to him, doing what Haye tried and trying to get in and out won't work against the fleet footed Wlad who can react faster, but a long as Joshua keeps moving forward he'll expose Wlad's lack of lateral movement and get to him.

I assume they came in heavy to counter act Wlad's tactics once they are in mid range. Wlad will clinch once Joshua does get close and in this area Wlad had a huge advantage. Joshua has never shown me anything to suggest he knows how to fight inside or in a clinch. Here he'll need the extra weight to try and out muscle Wlad, not sure if that will work, Wlad maybe lighter but he's got more years of strength training in the bank and it takes many years to build optimal strength, Wlad might be stronger inside not just better in the clinches.

 

He weighed 1 lb heavier than his last fight that's nothing, its the equivalent to drinking a small 500ml bottle of water.

 

It's a single pound higher than last time... he's been within a pound or two of 250 plenty of times.

 

Its the roids that gives him the weight. He is naturally 230 lbs max.

 

Dammit, Brighton, you always pre-empty what I'm going to say! Joshua's definitely going for optimising his existing strengths, rather than shoring up his weaknesses, which is a smart tactic IMO. I will say though that I disagree with a couple of your points.

Firstly, I think Wlad's lateral movement is pretty damn good, and in fact a key to his ability to keep control of the ring. Joshua will need to cut the ring off of Wlad to be able to corner him; simply moving forward isn't going to cut it. There are numerous past Wlad opponents who can attest to that.

Secondly, I think Joshua's infighting was already quite well demonstrated in the Whyte and Breazeale fights. He's got a very vicious body flurry that he can pull out in close quarters to keep fighters off him, and he has shown he's able to shorten up his shots quite well to combat guys looking to clinch him up. Wlad's a completely different proposition of course, but Peter was able to manhandle Wlad in the clinch, and while Joshua isn't quite that level of brute strength I expect the early rounds to be interesting.

 

I think you're mistaking Wlad's fast feet and agility for lateral movement, they are not the same. Compare his movement to Vitali's in their fights with Peter. Vitali is constantly side stepping Peter, he throws a jab, he moves to the side, he feints he moves to the side, he totally controlled the centre of the ring and didn't even need to back up to the ropes that much as he moves so well laterally.

Wlad on the other hand is quick and light on his feet, can keep away by taking a quick step or too against sporadic aggression but against consistent pressure he struggles he doesn't move well laterally. It's why he clinches so much, he can't get out of the way if the pressure is more than just the short, sporadic rush.

Sorry I wasn't clear in regards to Joshua's infighting ability. Yes he can fight inside as he shortens his punches correctly, which is good for a man his size, but can he do so in the clinches? Fighting in the clinches is an important part of infighting, nothing he has shown me so far says he can create the space to get his shots off on the inside against a clinching prone Wlad, who does know the proper techniques on the inside to tie up his opponent.

 

Barring a quick ko for an This will be a very messy poor fight. Probably a total farce. Bad for boxing. 41 is too old. Simple really innit?

 

Bigger mass does not neccesarily mean more strength. I think Klitschko is probably stronger on mauling and pushing back. He had no problem pushing Wach, Thompson, Pulev etc back

 

George Foreman - a power house - was nearly 50 when he put the absolute heat on a 25 year old Shannon Briggs. A fighter without power and/or size to bail him out at an older age will always struggle. Klitschko lacks neither. Even if he loses he is still #2 and can best everyone from Wilder down unless a loss kills his confidence and he just carries on losing.

Klitschko still looks a specimen and his power will not have diminished either.

 

Wlad is an expert on mauling and holding. It's not just brute strength,you gotta have the right technique and timing as well.

 

Of course. He has spent a decade plus perfecting his style.

 

Bad move. His big weakness is his lack of mobility, and this will make it worse. Power doesn't mean a thing if you can't land your punches.