We witnessed a very entertainting fight tonight -- one of the types of fights that Wladimir Klitschko just "does not have" in his boxing career. You very rarely see him in a fight where he has to take a sustained number of solid punches and find a way to win. Much of this had to do with AJ pretty much staying right in front of Wlad and utilizing no head movement whatsoever. AJ jabbed with Wlad, looking for openings... but he barely even moved laterally. During Round 5, AJ finally landed on Wlad "semi-flush" and followed it up with a barrage, sending him to the floor. But prior to that, AJ had struggled to even land anything meaningful cleanly. It wouldn't happen again until the 11th Round, where AJ finally connected solidly with a vicious uppercut to get the "end credits" of this feature rolling. Both guys showed heart tonight. But to me, it was clear that Anthony Joshua blowing out his gas tank after the first KD in the 5th Round is the primary reason Wlad was even able to return the favor in the very next Round. Joshua could have just quit right then and there... but instead, he got up. And he recuperated (doing lots of talking in the process). And he then proceeded to find his second wind three Rounds later and impose his sheer WILL once again on a highly motivated and "settled in" Wladimir Klitschko. Eleven simply must not be Wlad's lucky number. He was stopped by journeyman Ross Puritty in the 11th. The highly skilled, but not so heavy-handed Tyson Fury "had him going" in the 11th en route to a wide UD loss. And now, the admittedly "still green" Anthony Joshua closes him out in the 11th. This is purely coincidental, but somewhat interesting. Despite this fight tonight being memorable due to both guys getting up off of the canvas, it is also unfortunately clear that Wladimir was put down just about every time he was even hit cleanly in there, whereas AJ took some very solid right hands (and left hooks) both before and after his trip to the canvas. I fully expected a Wlad victory tonight, but I can accept that the manner in which his opponent fought (and his opponent's sheer size, to a degree) is what lead to this fight being so riveting to witness. I believe Wladimir's ability to avoid even being hit cleanly at all (for so long) has been a MAJOR factor in his longevity in the Heavyweight division. Despite being so fundamentally gifted, disciplined, and well-conditioned... he simply never has been a durable HW, unlike his brother Vitali. All of the complaints Wladimr got throughout his career about his holding, not letting his hands go, etc is due to his own complete understanding and acceptance of this fact. This sounds like a negative assessment, but it's actually an acknowledgement that Wladimir has great "spoiler" tactics, control of distance, and punch anticipation. He would never have made it this far without those attributes in tow. Wladimir Klitschko will remain a tricky HW to overcome, right up until he finally hangs 'em up for good. He was finally in another (rare) competitive encounter tonight -and a very exciting one- only to end up on the opposite side of victory once again. In light of this, he can hold his head high after giving it his all. To even rise up off of the canvas multiple times in such an affair (which he's done several times before in his career) shows a degree of pride that cannot be denied. As for Anthony Joshua, we learned a lot about his will to win on this night. He acknowledged that he has much to work on even in victory, and that to me indicates his desire to refine his craft. With AJ, love him or hate him, it is likely that we shall witness even more exciting fights of this magnitude going forward. There is definitely room for improvement, but if this night was indeed a passing of the torch, then that torch is in good hands with the new HW Generation. If Tyson Fury gets himself sorted out and in shape, then it would be even greater for HW Boxing. Boxing needs Fury to return and fight AJ and/or the other remaining title holders.
