Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko: Prediction, Betting Odds, Preview For Heavyweight Fight

Anthony Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) makes his third IBF world heavyweight title defense and is looking to capture the vacant WBA and IBO belts Saturday when he meets Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 54 KOs) at Wembley Stadium in the richest bout in British boxing history.

A sellout crowd of 90,000 at the famed London stadium is expected to be firmly supporting Joshua, a native of Watford and a former gold medalist from the 2012 London Games. Joshua, who has never fought outside the U.K., has had 13 fights end before the end of the second round, while Klitschko has gone the distance in three of his last five fights.

The championship bout essentially pits youth against experience. Joshua, 27, enters only the 19th fight of his career and after taking up the sport in 2007. Klitschko is 41 years old and made his professional debut in 1996, about a month after Joshua turned 7 years old. There have been questions as to whether the Ukrainian will hang up his gloves if he loses.

"There is nothing even considered in my mind that I'm not going to make it," Klitschko told Sky Sports. Klitschko has even stated that he is "obsessed" with beating Joshua after losing to another Brit, Tyson Fury, in his last fight.

Klitschko, who until recently was regarded as the only elite boxer in a weak division, had been unbeaten in 11 years before losing by a unanimous decision to Fury in November 2015.

There was little for Klitschko to learn from Joshua's fight in December at Manchester Arena. Joshua didn't seem to break much of a sweat with a third-round TKO over American Eric Molina, who showed minimal interest in throwing a decent jab let alone a power punch.

One could argue that the only way to gauge Joshua's skill is to look at his performance against Dominic Breazeale. The American, who entered the fight undefeated in 17 fights, was competitive for stretches and lasted until the seventh before he was pummeled by a hard left hand after some powerful combinations by Joshua. Klitschko and Breazeale are roughly the same height and have about the same reach, so Klitschko has likely taken notes from the Joshua-Breazeale fight.

At Friday's weigh-in, Joshua came in at 250.1 pounds. Klitschko weighed in at 240.5 pounds.

Joshua enters the bout as the favorite at -260, while Klitschko has +220 odds.

Prediction: This is a very difficult fight to predict because of Klitschko's uninspired showing against Fury and Joshua's lack of respectable opponents. When factoring youth, the London setting and Joshua's fitness after 18 fights, the edge belongs to British star.

Klitschko can get the win if he reverts back to his trademark defensive style, is active with his jab and aggressively goes to the body. But it might be a tall order against an athletic boxer like Joshua.

Joshua by TKO