On Tuesday, January 31, 2017, Anthony Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) and Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) hit New York City’s Madison Square Garden to hold a press conference to help promote their Heavyweight title fight on Saturday, April 29, 2017.
Eddie Hearn, Group Managing Director of Matchroom Sport, discussed the hype and magnitude of the highly-anticipated Heavyweight clash between Joshua and Klitschko.
“To give you an idea, when the final ticket was sold–the 84,999th–there was 36,000 people remaining in the online queue to purchase tickets. So quite simply in relation to the averages, we could’ve sold out Wembley Stadium twice without any problem at all.”
The unification battle will be fought for Joshua’s IBF title, as well as the WBA Super World heavyweight title and the vacant IBO Heavyweight title as well.
Having knocked out every opponent thus far, and never going past seven rounds in his professional career, this is a considerable step up in competition for Joshua.
But you wouldn’t know it by looking at Joshua who has all the poise of a veteran champion.
“I’m here for a reason. I’ll handle business the way I’ve always handled it. The goal is the same–to be victorious,” said Joshua.
While some people may argue that it’s too much, too soon for the young juggernaut, Klistchko believes that the time is perfect for their April matchup.
“I think it’s the perfect time for both of us,” said Klitschko. “In 3 years he’ll be too good, & I’ll be too old. It’s a signature fight for boxing.”
If the tickets sales are any indication of how fans feel about the fight, April 29 is surely going to be a historic night for boxing.
“This is by far the biggest fight to take place in Great Britain,” said Hearn. “I believe the fascination will resonate with fans around the world and make this the biggest Heavyweight fight in some time.”
All photos by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
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