It is only hours before the two undefeated champions will square up against each other. Tonight, one of these undefeated champions would suffer the first pro defeat of his life.

A little Brief (From me).

ANTHONY JOSHUA

Anthony Joshua has 20 pro KOs and is the overwhelming favourite to triumph tonight. He is a powerful puncher and ranked No 1 on the list of two major boxing federations.

Joshua has been dropped only once in his pro boxing career by Wladimir Klischko in April, last year when he dropped Joshua in the 7th round.

Joshua's major strength is his power and many boxers have received punishment from him before being ultimately knocked down. Aside the fights with Whyte, Breazeale, Klischko and Takam, all other Joshua's KOs came early between rounds 1-2/3.

Joshua's weaknesses include having a stamina problem which causes him to gas out early and being very one-dimensional. Joshua also does not possess the one punch KO power and relies on combinations to knock out his opponents. Joshua is also said to have a glass chin but no one can hold this against him.

Joshua has however managed some of his weaknesses ahead of his unification bout against Parker. For instance, to improve his stamina, Joshua has come in the lightest in his pro career so far, 12 times lighter than he was when he fought Takam in October, 2017. Joshua hopes that his weight loss would help his stamina and speed.


JOSEPH PARKER

Joseph Parker has 24 pro wins with 18 KOs. He is the underdog for tonight's bout. He is number one on a single boxing federation and is known for his fast hands.

Parker has never been dropped before.

Parker's major strength is his speed and his footwork. He is also regarded as the most technical of the three heavyweight champions (Anthony Joshua, Wilder and Parker). Another of Parker's strength is his granite chin which has helped him survive a lot of tough bouts. Parker has a lot of stamina and have bouts go the distance without terribly gassing out.

Parker's weaknesses includes a slowness detected in his recent bouts especially against Andy Ruiz and Hughie Fury. Just like Joshua, Parker is also one-dimensional.

Parker has however managed his weaknesses ahead of this unification bout by losing weight to come in lighter than he was against Fury. He has also had surgery down on his elbows which have caused him much pain and slowed down his hand speed.

MY PREDICTION

Joshua is a powerful puncher and is likely to get a KO against Parker. But that seems only easy on paper as Parker is no walkover. In my 14 years of being a serious boxing fan, I have always gunned for the underdogs as I love upset. I was delighted when Rahman (the underdog) KOed Lennox Lewis. I gunned for Vitali Klischko (the underdog then) to beat Lewis and was sad when Lewis won a KO.

I am not going to make a prediction. But I am gunning for Parker to win.

AJ