Joshua Can Signal New Era For Boxing With A Knockout Of Klitschko

If he could get in there and knock Wladimir Klitschko out cold for the ten count, then I see no logical reason why Anthony Joshua cannot signal a new era for professional boxing around the world. He's got the power, fight style and marketability. Over to you Anthony.
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Reuters Staff / Reuters

Anthony Joshua stands on the verge of fulfilling his potential when he takes on Wladimir Klitschko in front of a 90,000 sell out at Wembley Stadium on April 29th.

It will represent the culmination of years of work to get to this point for the Londoner, but it could have more far reaching implications on the sport as a whole outside of his own career.

The heavyweight division traditionally has always been the glamour weight class in professional boxing.

Spectators have always loved watching the big guys get in there and exchange fists.

Wladimir Klitschko and his brother Vitali were excellent world champions in their time. Certainly future Hall of Famers and fine ambassadors for the sport.

They'll never be forgotten. No doubt about it.

But their professional tenure and in particular Wladimir's didn't seem to have the entertainment impact of heavyweight eras before them involving the likes of Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield.

Not a slight on the Ukraine boxing legends of course. It's just outside of Germany and their native Ukraine, they didn't seem to capture the world's imagination like heavyweight champions before them did.

They didn't have that rare magic needed for an athlete to transcend a sport. Entertainment is important and goes hand and hand with professional boxing.

It always has. Heavyweight boxing knockouts are as raw and uncut as sports entertainment gets.

While the sport of boxing is and always will be a a sweet science, there's something that allures the casual sports fan into a big heavyweight fight more than any other.

Anthony Joshua thus far in his short professional boxing career has been able to peak the interests of sports fans around the world.

His barbaric knockout of Dillian Whyte perhaps his most credible win thus far, in that it also showed he could take a punch.

But Wladimir Klitschko is no Dillian Whyte and by all accounts has the 'eye of the tiger' once again.

Still reeling from his last ring outing to Tyson Fury in November 2015 when he was out boxed and out foxed by the excellent Fury in Germany.

Joshua vs Klitschko this month signifies what boxing used to be about. Two gentlemen who don't need to trash talk and instead get in the ring and do their talking with their fists.

The key difference with Joshua is that he does it in more exciting fashion than Klitschko. He comes in there to clean people out and makes no bones about the fact.

That's what people want to see. People want to see fighters who close the show and finish fights.

That's why the UFC has had so much success in the last decade in mixed martial arts.

They tend to put on fights with the best fighting the best regularly, and, more often than not - the best are usually fighters who try to finish fights in exciting fashion.

Anthony Joshua has gone on record saying he's looking for the knockout ahead of April 29th. That's the type of statement of intent people went to hear from a heavyweight champion.

If he could get in there and knock Wladimir Klitschko out cold for the ten count, then I see no logical reason why Anthony Joshua cannot signal a new era for professional boxing around the world.

He's got the power, fight style and marketability. Over to you Anthony.