Wladimir Klitschko the former undisputed heavyweight champion is retired now but not long ago he was the main man at heavyweight.
No one could beat him for years until Tyson Fury went to essentially his backyard in Germany, where he was undefeated for more than a decade, and dethroned him.
He never actually sparred Fury before fighting him but did spar Anthony Joshua.
Speaking to the Ring Magazine, Klitschko recalled his former trainer, the legendary Manny Steward bringing him in and his philosophy on sparring:
“Anyway, Emanuel was telling me that a lot of fighters—he named all of them in the past—had great sparring partners because that’s how you sharpen yourself. You need to have seasoned fighters, great competitors in sparring sessions. That’s how you’re going to get better, and eventually, it’s good preparation for your upcoming challenge and title defenses. We were just doing what was done before, and Emanuel was sponsoring it, giving those opportunities to the young fighters. A lot of them were even amateurs, or, for example, Anthony Joshua had just won his gold medal in London 2012, and next, he was in my training camp.”
Joshua and Klitschko would later share the ring in a real stadium fight in Wembley.
One where Joshua got up off the deck to win and stop Klitschko in — but a modern day all-time classic.
Joshua is not done yet, and likely is set to sign a big deal soon — time will tell if we have seen the last of Klitschko or not.
Some think Klitschko may in fact have a comeback fight and return to boxing.