"I think if Klitschko give us what he's been giving us the last 4 or 5 years, he's going to lose to Anthony Joshua by TKO. If he comes in there like he fought Fury and like he fought Bryant Jennings, this bull Joshua is going to punish him," stated hard-hitting heavyweight contender Amir Mansour, who shared his thoughts on the highly-anticipated heavyweight showdown between IBF champion Anthony Joshua and former unified champion Wladimir Klitschko. Check out what else he had to say!
AMIR MANSOUR'S BREAKDOWN OF JOSHUA VS. KLITSCHKO:
I just hope that he comes in there with his A-game and maybe he can rejuvenate himself for one last hurrah. But the tell-tale sign with Klitschko, I've been seeing him slow down these last few years. But also he may have not been that motivated because he continues to fight B-class fighters instead of A-class fighters when defending his title these last few years. Once he got in there with a B+ fighter, because Fury is not an A fighter and we know that, Fury had an easy night with him. So if he comes in fighting Joshua the way that he fought Jennings and Fury, it's going to be an easy night for Joshua.
I'm in my 40's myself so I can't never say age is a factor. Like I said, I just think that Klitschko hasn't been as motivated probably as he should be. When you're fighting B-level fighters, man, you're not all that motivated. I don't think its age and I don't think his experience over Joshua is going to play a key role in this fight. Joshua is going to come prepared to do 12 rounds and he's going to come prepared to do 12 hard rounds. Now, if he don't come prepared to do 12 hard rounds, then experience can kick in of course. That's just one plus one equals two. If both fighters come in excellent shape and Klitschko gives us what he's been giving us the last several fights and Joshua gives us what he's been giving us his last several fights, it's going to be an easy night for Joshua. Now I do think Klitschko can come and give us 75% of what the great Klitschko brought to the table and I think that he can win this fight. He can show skill set and then he could use his experience over Joshua. When you come in prepared to beat a guy, then you can use experience over them because you could weather the storm in there, you can take some hard shots, and all of that plays a part in using your experience in the long run. He's not going to be able to use his experience over Joshua in the first 6 rounds. So from 7-12 is where experience can kick in, but can he endure the punishment through those first 6 rounds? Can he clip this young bull early and make him change his game plan? I think a lot of those things play into factor in determining if he can use his experience over Joshua. But I'm just convinced that unless he's dug deep back into that well and gives us a glimpse of the old Klitschko, then Joshua is going to have an easy night. There is no way he's going to beat Joshua coming in prepared the way he's come in prepared for his last couple of fights.
We have to go with what we've been seeing the last couple of years and unless you are watching a "Hardcore" Mansour fight (laughing), you're not going to see no fast pace (laughing). Hey man, numbers don't lie. If I was either one of these guys, I would jump on my opponent early in the first couple of rounds and then I would start feeling him out and getting ready to go ahead and use some real technical skills and technique and then try to outsmart him and set traps and things of that nature. If I was Klitschko, I would come in hard and try to take this guy's heart for the first couple of rounds and try to land some real clean and crisp shots and try to get to him with some speed that he's not expecting. If he can do some things like that, that can take Joshua off of his game. But Joshua, the young, hungry lion, is going to come in there; he's fast, he's sharp, and strong. Klitschko is going to have to be prepared for that and he's going to have to weather the storm if he wants to bring the storm. Klitschko hasn't fought since 2015 and that is a long time, but when I fought Kaufmann, I hadn't fought at that particular time in 15 months. And Kaufmann had fought 3 or 4 times within the time I hadn't fought in that 15 months. That was mentioned; shaking off some of that ring rust, but this boxing thing is a lot more mental than it is physical in my opinion. So Klitschko, being the veteran that he is, he shouldn't have ring rust. I'm not going to make any excuses for a guy that has that many fights, been a world champion, and fought in front of that many people. I can't put that ring rust title on him. I believe that he's smart enough and he's been in this fight game long enough not to have ring rust.
It's just like I told you Porter TKO against Berto, I believe that Joshua is going to stop this guy, but it does depend on Joshua going out there and getting his man. I think he could have stopped Breazeale a lot earlier than what he did, but Joshua holds back. He doesn't go on that mission of attack. Even when he hurts these guys, he doesn't go on that attack like I think a young warrior should. If I was Joshua's team, I would run through this guy and continue to run through him in every single round that I could because you don't want to leave Klitschko hanging around. I do think Joshua is going to win this fight by TKO or unanimous decision. It could be a boring fight because I think if Klitschko shows Joshua, "Look, just let me survive these 12 rounds," Joshua is going to let him. That's what I mean by Joshua not going to get his man. So it's going to be a boring, slow pace fight, but if it happens to be a fast pace, leather flying fight, Joshua is going to take him out.
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