Joshua vs Klitschko

[Nik]

Any boxing fans anticipating the bout to commence in roughly 3 hours?
What's your bet?

[Mike]

i can't say i truly love to watch boxing, but i like reading about it. i just read a great book about the ali-foreman match in 1974. to be honest, i thought klitschko had retired and gone into politics. or was it his brother who became mayor of kyiv?

as you can probably tell, my knowledge of this match is limited. is joshua the favorite, then?

[Nik]

The elder one retired and is now the mayor of Kyiv. Interestingly, after the ousting of Yanukovich he was the most popular politician, but didn't compete for presidency shifting his popularity towards current pres and going for mayorship instead ...

The younger brother reined the heavyweight division for about a decade, but he lost his last defense and all the titles. So I guess it's pretty open today and that's what makes it less predictable: younger, ambitious contender vs seasoned but aging ex-champ

[Mike]

yes...interesting. do you have any opinion about why he did that?

the match sounds a little bit like ali and foreman, actually. interesting. is joshua the champion now? i know mayweather is undefeated, but i am under the impression that he is retired as well?

i don't think i will pay to watch it, but maybe afterwards i can find it on youtube or something...

[Nik]

If I remember correctly, he seemed to think presidency was kinda big for him.

Yeah, Joshua is an IBF champ, Mayweather retired (wonder whether would return for the right money) and the match is promising...

However, taking into account how disappointing some previous 'big' bouts were (Floyd - Manny, for example), I can understand a cautious approach towards ppv-:)

[Mike]

yeah- that was a very boring match, as i recall. mostly i think due to mayweather's style.

so it sounds like IBF stand for...International Boxing Federation? so if klitschko wins, he becomes world champion?

[Nik]

IBF & WBA, but with so many federation and confederations and unification hardships, it's sometimes hard to know who the 'real' champ is at any given time. Thus, there were times when Vitali ruled WBC, while Vlad all the others, thus sweeping heavyweight as brothers, who vowed to never fight each other..

[Mike]

understandable, i think. boxing is far from lighthearted, friendly competition...

[Nik]

Finito, but I won't spoil in case you gonna watch the recording -:)

[Mike]

thanks man, but the result came up as soon as i searched for it. :( was it a good fight, at least?

[Nik]

Yep, with knock downs on both sides in the middle and convincing victory in later rounds.
Don't think Klitschko will continue. I guess it's a good opportunity to thank him for his no doubt remarkable career and a decade long reign of heavyweight division!

Joshua strikes as an impressive fighter. It'll be logical to have him against Tyson Fury now. With Tyson having quicker hands than Joshua, it should be an interesting match..