Former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is still sparring at 42-years-old despite having been retired for a year. Klitschko (64-5, 53 KOs) posted a short video on his social media site on Friday, showing himself sparring an unnamed fighter and looking really good for someone who hasn’t fought since April of 2017.
Wladimir is seen in the video stalking his opponent around the ring, hitting him with shots to the head and body while neatly avoiding the return fire coming back. This is the way that Wladimir needed to fight in his last two bouts against Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. Had Wladimir fought like that, he would have beaten both of those heavyweights.
Last year, Wladimir had more hand speed, power, stamina, boxing skills and mobility than Joshua. That was plain to see for everybody. Joshua looked like an oaf inside the ring with Klitschko. It was like a teacher with an unskilled pupil. Joshua didn’t belong in the ring with Wladimir. It was that much of a mismatch. We’ll never know for sure why Wladimir didn’t finish Joshua off after he knocked him to the canvas in the 6th. Joshua was fighting on shaky legs after that knockdown and looking like he had completely emptied his gas tank. All it would have taken was one straight right or left hook from Wladimir and Joshua would have been done for the night. Was it mercy on Wladimir’s part in allowing Joshua to survive? A lot of boxing fans believe that to be the case. They think Wladimir felt sorry for Joshua and didn’t want to wreck his career by knocking him out. Wladimir was on his way out of the sport, and he didn’t need the ego high of beating the novice-like Joshua.
If Klitschko does come back, a fight between him and former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (27-0, 19 KOs) would be a must. Wladimir has unfinished business from his loss to Fury in 2015. If Wladimir were to come back right now, he might even have the chance of taking the Fury fight right out from the nose of Deontay. Wladimir vs. Fury 2 is a bigger fight than Wilder-Fury.
The way that Wladimir looked in his sparring video, you would have to make him a huge favorite to beat the likes of Tyson Fury, Jarrell Miller, Kubrat Pulev, Alexander Povetkin and Dillian Whyte. Wladimir would likely clean out the top contenders in the heavyweight division. The only guys that would be a threat to Wladimir is Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz. Those would be the tough guys for him to fight.
The magical question that boxing fans want to know is whether Wladimir will be making a comeback. It’s believed by many that the 6’6” Klitschko retired much too early in walking away from the sport last year at age 41. Wladimir looked better than Joshua, and he could have knocked him out. The difference in boxing skills between Wladimir and Joshua was embarrassingly wide. Joshua looked like an unskilled bodybuilder with just a punch inside the ring with the Ukrainian talent. I think it goes without saying that Wladimir would have knocked Joshua out in the 6th or 7th round if he had pressed him after he had him hurt and exhausted.