Joshua will knock out Fury — Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko is not bitter about the back-to-back defeats that ended his reign over the heavyweight division and his 21 years in boxing.

Instead, the 42-year-old has accepted it and now pays close attention to his two conquerors in between giving classes to Masters students at the University of St Gallen in Switzerland and running the promotions company K2 that he founded with his brother Vitali.

Tyson Fury first dethroned the Ukrainian back in November 2015 before Anthony Joshua emerged as the victor from their epic Wembley bout almost a year ago.

Now, there is a possibility Klitschko’s two former foes could meet in an all-British dust-up following Fury’s comeback announcement earlier this week.

Having shared the ring with both of them, Klitschko is well placed to weigh in on the discussion and has few doubts over the outcome if the fight was ever to materialise.

‘Hands down Joshua,’ Klitschko told the Sunday Times when asked who is the better fighter.

‘He is getting to be the complete fighter. Technically, size-wise, weight-wise, power-wise. And he is a good learner. The other guy (Fury), like a fart in the wind it is there and it is gone.

‘In the history of boxing there are a lot of examples of this kind of guy. They can be successful for a time but are not disciplined enough to continue to be successful.

‘I wish Tyson well but I think there is a lack of discipline there, and discipline is more important than motivation.

‘Motivation comes and goes, discipline remains. I am not Nostradamus, I can’t predict the future, but drawing from my experience I would say it is going to be very difficult for Tyson because there’s a lack of discipline.’

Fury insists otherwise and has declared he has got himself in the best shape of his life ahead of his ring return on June 9 and that he is coming to reclaim all the world titles he squandered amid self-confessed problems with drugs and depression.

The Manchester giant, who has labelled Joshua his ‘belt carrier,’ has been advised by his new promoter Frank Warren that he needs two to three fights to shake off any ring rust following his two-and-a-half year hiatus from boxing before meeting Joshua in a blockbuster heavyweight showdown.

Joshua, meanwhile, has his eyes set on WBC champion Deontay Wilder and wants to challenge the American in a contest that will decide the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in the early 2000s before even considering Fury as an opponent.