- Anthony Joshua told Klitschko to finish him off after he was floored in their fight
- The heavyweight champions says he knew deep down that he would defeat the Ukranian in their May clash
- The win help Joshua win the WBO and WBA titles as well as retian the IBF title he was holding
Anthony Joshua reveals he warned Wladimir Klitschko that he had three minutes to finish him off or he would “knock out” the former heavyweight champion.
The Nigerian recalls his thoughts when he was floored in the third round and how he almost thought he would win the fight in the fifth round when he also floored Klitschko.
Joshua told the Sun: “When I’m talking to Klitschko after he’s knocked me down, I’m just letting him know that ‘if you let me get through this next round, I’m going to knock you the f*** out’.
“It was just the warrior in me reassuring myself that I was still in the fight."
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The 27-year-old admits he was never thought how to return from being floored.
Anthony Joshua was struggling in the initial stages against the Ukrainian but battled back to victory. Photo: BBC
He said: “The one thing my coach has never taught me is how to take a punch and lie down for ten seconds and get up before the count is over.
“He’s never come into the gym with a baseball bat and said ‘what we’re going to do is smack you around the jaw ten times and you’re going to lay on the floor and then see if you can get up’.
“It’s a situation where you’re in a fight or flight mode and what I learned about myself that night against Klitschko was that I have the deep down character that no-one can teach you in training.
“When you’re up against someone who can match you punch for punch, power for power and speed for speed, it becomes who you are and how bad you want it."
The British-Nigerian boxer would get his victory but not before coming close to losing. Photo: BBC
“That fight was everything I’d trained for for the last eight years. Forget everything else, it was mano-a-mano. This was me and Klitschko, this was about pride.
“When it comes to boxing I strip everything back to reality and focus on what it really is. It’s just me and a man coming to blows. And the best man will win.”
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He thought he had victory in the bag when he knocked Klitschko down in the fifth round but that would not be so.
His moment would however come in the 11th round which allowed him to add the WBA and IBO belts to his IBF world title.
The British-Nigerian boxer is currently preparing for his title defense against Kubrat Pulev at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday, October 28, for the WBA ‘Super’ and IBF heavyweight world titles.
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Source: Sports.naij.com
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