Joshua and Fury were in Klitschko’s camps – did Wladimir see their greatness?

Former unified heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko shared his memories of training alongside future champions Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Joseph Parker, as well as his impressions of Deontay Wilder.

- Obviously, if you want to achieve anything in life, you need allies. Sometimes, your opponents can be your allies — that’s exactly what I mean when I talk about competition.

For example, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and others used to be my sparring partners. I never sparred with Tyson Fury, but he was in my camp — Steward brought him in.

But I did spar with Anthony Joshua. Back then, he was helping me prepare for my next challenge and title defense, but I already knew that we would probably meet again later in a real fight, in a real ring. It’s like competition between companies — you’re competing with someone who could be your future opponent.

- Seems like a young Deontay Wilder was also in your camp…

- Deontay Wilder — as I said, there were many fighters. Joseph Parker, too. I know my team, my people, because they were in my training camp back when I was still an active athlete.

- I know Emanuel believed that iron sharpens iron. Did you see greatness in those young fighters back then?

- I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but Emanuel told me that many fighters — and he named them all — had excellent sparring partners in the past. That’s why they were able to refine their skills.

That’s why you need great sparring opponents. That’s how you improve, and ultimately, it becomes good preparation for a future challenge and future title defense. We just kept doing what had worked before, and Emanuel gave young fighters those kinds of opportunities. Many of them were still amateurs. For example, Anthony Joshua had just won his gold medal in London in 2012, and then he came to my training camp, Klitschko said.