Anthony Joshua has revealed that he made an offer for the USB stick that Wladimir Klitschko claimed contained details of how to beat the British heavyweight.
Ahead of the pair’s meeting in 2017, Klitschko produced the storage device at a press conference and suggested he would use the footage on it to plot a path to victory against Joshua.
It proved an unsuccesful ploy, with Joshua securing victory by TKO in the 11th round.
The Ukrainian subsequently sold the stick to an unknown bidder for £160,000, with the proceeds passed on to projects supported by the Klitschko brothers’ charitable foundation.
Joshua has now admitted that he was keen to acquire it, though his valuation was “a long way off” the winning bidder offered.
“[Wladimir Klitschko] said ‘I have a memory stick sewn into my gown which is going to break down how I will defeat Anthony Joshua’, along with his prediction,” Joshua recalled during a question and answer session at the Oxford Union.
“In 2014 I went to help him prepare for a fight and they record the training sessions. In 2017 I fought Wladimir Klitschko.
“After the fight I sent the invoice and it cleared. So I rang my guys and was like ‘Yeah I want to put a bid in for this stick, I am ready, let’s call it £5,000’.
“That is a lot of money. But I think it sold for like £200,000 and I was a long way off the mark that it needed to take to win the auction.”
Joshua’s win over the veteran maintained his unbeaten record as a professional and extended his winning start to his career to 19 fights.
He has since been beaten by both Andy Ruiz Jr and Oleksandr Usyk, but still ranks Klitschko as his most difficult opponent.
At the time, Joshua suggested he was unimpressed by Klitschko’s mind games.
“It’s strategy, isn’t it? I’m just focusing on the fight, I’m not downloading no USB and bringing that to press conferences,” the British boxer said at his own pre-fight press conference.
“I didn’t take it the way he wanted to express it. In this sport you can’t say something and get away with it, so it has to exist.
“I don’t think he’ll reveal who bid for it if he does give it away. It was an attempt (at a mind game). He’s trying to make me angry, because when I’m angry I don’t fight well. But he’s different at it. I don’t dislike him, I just want to beat him, and there’s a big difference.”
