Anthony Joshua has offered his opinion on Saturday's huge heavyweight clash at Matchroom Fight Camp, when Dillian Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) defends the interim WBC title against Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs).
Current WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titleholder Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) has vanquished both Whyte (December 2015) and Povetkin (September 2018), and will be at Matchroom HQ in Brentwood, Essex, to witness the showdown for the right to challenge the winner of Tyson Fury's third fight with Deontay Wilder for the full WBC championship.
And the 30-year-old cannot see the main event finishing inside the 12-round distance.
“Another one of my ex-foes, Povetkin, I soften them up then they get fed to the other lions in the jungle,” Joshua told Sky Sports.
“I think it will go to a points decision, to be honest with you.”
AJ also believes that decision is likely to lean in Whyte's favour — but only if his extended training camp in Portugal was as fruitful as it appeared to be when Whyte showed up to the weigh-in in great shape, hitting the scales at a much-improved 18st 6oz (252lb 6oz).“If he trains right, everybody has got their issues in training camps, if he hasn’t got any excuses or any reasons why he shouldn’t have had a good training camp then I think he will come through,” continued Joshua.
“He’s a fighter, Dillian, but Povetkin is a serious, skilled heavyweight, in terms of Olympic gold medalist, world champion.
“His only losses are to [Wladimir] Klitschko and me, so he’s good. He hasn’t been on the losing end too many times.
“So he hasn’t got used to that feeling, so he’s still got that fighter hunger. He’ll go in against Dillian thinking he can win.”
With Joshua in attendance, promoter Eddie Hearn suspects he could do more than just commentate, given his history with Whyte.
"It’s a strange relationship between the two of them," Hearn explained prior to the official weigh-ins. "I really feel like they have a big amount of respect for each other. I don’t think they did before they fought, but I think they really are fans of one another now.
"But when they’re around each other, they just can’t help themselves. So if Dillian can win on Saturday, I’m sure there’ll be a few words in AJ’s direction.
"He’ll only be 20 yards away, in the Sky commentary area. Anthony will be watching and he will be there. Tyson Fury will be watching from somewhere. Deontay Wilder will be watching. Every major heavyweight will be watching this fight."
Matchroom Fight Camp 4, headlined by Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin and Katie Taylor vs. Delfine Persoon, airs live on Sky Sports Box Office and DAZN in the U.S. on Aug. 22.