Klitschko: “Joshua facing Mount Everest when he meets me”

The 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko is bidding to win Anthony Joshua's IBF heavyweight title and the WBA belt last held by Tyson Fury in front of what is expected to be a post-war record crowd of 90,000 for a boxing event in the United Kingdom.

Klitschko took to Twitter to mock Joshua's claims on Tuesday that he "needs to be a billionaire", and the former WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO champion has now aimed a further dig in the Brit's direction.

On April 29th I'm going to fight a wannabe billionaire. Fellas, how many wannabe billionaires did you "fight" in your life? I've none.

— Klitschko (@Klitschko) April 8, 2017

Klitschko represents the biggest challenge in 27-year-old Joshua's career to date, in which he has so far fought 18 times, with 18 knockouts.

By contrast Klitschko's only defeat in 11 years came against Joshua's compatriot Fury, a vastly different fighter. The Ukrainian dismissed suggestions he is in decline, comparing his exceptional longevity with the world's highest peak, and the scale of the task Joshua has to overcome.

"Please excuse me and this may sound arrogant, but for example, a parallel: Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world," Klitschko said. "It's there. It's been there for a long time and will be there for a long time. You can climb it during a certain period of time: during two weeks in April I believe. You can get to the top and say 'I conquered Everest'. Then you've got to run down because it's going to take you down if you miss the time.

Controlling my mind is the key to this fight. #obsessed #JoshuaKlitschko pic.twitter.com/8V9iz6KHUy

Watch this story: 'Banker or builder'. Joshua told what he would have become if not boxing

— Klitschko (@Klitschko) April 11, 2017

"After you're down, a lot of people died there. Some made it, not many, but some made it back. But Mount Everest is still there. Is Mount Everest defeated? It's still there and it's going to take another life this April. It's just the track of history. It was 27 years ago when I started [fighting as a professional] and I am still here. I have guys who have conquered me in certain periods of time out of the 68 fights. Four of them have made it out of a 21-year professional career. The rest didn't. Most didn't and the most amazing thing is I'm still here: they're not."