ON Sky Sports’ ‘The Gloves are Off’ programme, Anthony Joshua solemnly sized up Wladimir Klitschko and vowed to knock him unconscious at Wembley stadium on April 29.
“I’m going for the knockout, that’s what I do. I haven’t experienced losing as a professional yet so I don’t know that feeling,” Joshua said. “I’m going for a knockout. I always say you either crumble or rise to the occasion.
“I’m conditioning my mind talking about it, visualising to make it into reality.”
So far Joshua has made a habit of rising to the occasion, winning Olympic gold at London 2012 as a relatively inexperienced amateur before making short work of his professional opposition, including hoovering up British, Commonwealth and the IBF world title all within his 18 inside the distance victories.
Klitschko, the vastly experienced former champion, is undoubtedly a step up from his previous professional opposition. But Joshua wanted this fight now. “I think that timing is everything,” Joshua said. “I needed someone who could potentially challenge me. I say potentially because you never know.
“I need this type of competition to show the world what I’m about, the potential is real.”
“It’s my time,” he warned Klitschko. “I don’t think you’ll find a weakness.”
