Anthony Joshua reveals round by round how he is going to take Wladimir Klitschko out in Wembley showdown

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The road map to victory over Wladimir Klitschko – and onward to super-stardom – is set like a satellite navigation system in the bright lights of Anthony Joshua’s mind.

Britain’s 27-year-old world champion has rehearsed mentally how he will apply the pressure of youthful strength on the Ukraine legend who ruled heavyweight boxing for more than a decade but is 14 years his elder.

Joshua can picture how the blockbuster battle for his IBF belt and the vacant WBA title will unfold before a 90,000 crowd at Wembley on Saturday night and millions of viewers in 140 countries around the world.

Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko will collide at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night

The two boxers came face-to-face on Thursday for the final press conference before fight night

Joshua said it would be 'sweet' to win by knockout, warning he's 'not into 12-round boxing'

Klitschko, meanwhile, claims to be 'obsessed' with winning back the belts he lost to Tyson Fury

But first, as the victor by KO in all his 18 professional fights so far, he issues this health warning to Klitschko: ‘I’m not into 12-round boxing.’

Then he charts the pathway to glory, from the first bell.

The opinion in this hard old trade is that he will go for the quick kill but Joshua says: ‘I will feel him out in the first round. The 20 to 25 rounds we sparred in Wladimir’s camp don’t count because I don’t go to the gym for a fight but to learn and a real fight is very different.

‘In the second and third I can step it up a bit and see what he’s got left. He’s still in great condition but he is 41. Although I know how much experience he has gained through all those fights.

‘Through the fourth and fifth I can start breaking him down. By round six or seven I should have him in a bad place.

‘Then we can get down and dirty. It would be sweet to go in there and knock him out. That’s what heavyweight boxing is all about.’

The mechanics of how he needs to set up the KO against by far the best opponent he has faced are also clear to the man called AJ.

Joshua stopped Eric Molina in only three rounds in his second world title defence in December

The 27-year-old claims he 'can start breaking Klitschko down' through rounds four or five

The 27-year-old is confident he can beat Klitschko, even if the challenger tries to jab-and-grab

Klitschko faces constant accusations that he is a jab-and-grab merchant and questions are being asked as to how the American referee David Fields will deal with any holding.

Joshua has no such concerns, since he plans to deal with it himself: ‘Holding happens in fights. It can’t be helped. The issue is how you deal with it yourself.

‘You use it to your advantage when you’re in close like that. You can whip in the uppercuts. Most important of all you pound the body.

‘Left to the body, right to the body and you take the wind out of him. Slow him down. Round by round you can see and feel it having its effect. Keep swinging away to the body and it takes the fight out of anyone.’

As for Klitschko’s reach advantage, he says: ‘People think I’m only about knock-out power. But I practise my boxing skills. I’ve got my right hand to parry his long left jab. I’ve got my left hand to shield and protect me and deflect that big right. I can deal with him at close range and long range.’

The pair shared a ring in 2014 but Joshua said the 20 to 25 rounds they sparred 'don't count'

Joshua has been preparing for the bout with Klitschko alongside his trainer Rob McCracken 

Psychologically, too. He says: ‘Since I’ve taken this fight I’m not thinking oh my god I’m fighting this icon called Wladimir Klitschko who’s been through everything and I’m doing it in this mega-fight.

‘I simplify it. I strip away all that and all the hype and excitement and look upon it as another fight in which to knock out an opponent inside 12 rounds.’

Even that pared down approach, however, does not blind Joshua to the rewards which would follow if he can emulate the sensational upset win over Klitschko with which his fellow Englishman Tyson Fury freed up all but one of the heavyweight alpha- belts, his own IBF title included.

This extravaganza will be only the third fight ever broadcast by both the cable TV giants in America, Showtime and HBO.

Of how that priceless exposure can work better for him than Klitschko, who has never fully excited huge interest the other side of the Atlantic, Joshua says: ‘America is the mecca. If we cross over into the States and keep the fan base here in the UK I think we’ve cracked it. As a big guy with a name that’s easy to pronounce and who speaks English as his first language I can relate to the US market. I’ve got to go out there Saturday night and show them what I’m about.

‘Then we can get cracking. The O2 in London has become my second home and it is amazing for me to be fighting in Wembley Stadium. But I will need to go to America and I’m more than ready. I’d love to fight in Las Vegas and New York. 

Joshua believes fighting WBC champion Deontay Wilder in America would be 'phenomenal'

Wilder, unbeaten in 38 fights (37 KOs), stopped Gerald Washington in his last fight in Feburary

Joshua, meanwhile, insists his goal in boxing is not to be richer than Floyd 'Money' Mayweather

‘Deontay Wilder (the WBC heavyweight champion) is coming Saturday night. A fight with him over there could make it all phenomenal.’

Huge enough for him to realise his dream of becoming boxing’s first billionaire, thereby surpassing Floyd Mayweather’s $600 million wealth?

‘Not in boxing,’ he says on reflection. There’s no doubt we’ll make money. Maybe from my investments of all the income including sponsorships and all that. But it’s not my goal to be richer than Floyd. He has raised the bar for what boxers can earn and I’m not putting myself on the same pedestal as Mayweather.’

But Joshua is having the time of his young life.

Even this close to this huge fight he is relaxed and in his usual good humour: ‘I’m enjoying this amazing journey. Boxing is a good. Boxing is fun.’

Then he leans back in his chair and chuckles at his own good fortune.

May he still be smiling shortly before the witching hour this Saturday night.

Joshua v Klitschko will be televised live on Sky Sports Box Office this Saturday night.

In America it will be broadcast live on Showtime in the afternoon and by delayed transmission at prime time on HBO