By Tim Royner: Not happy that he’s not being taken seriously by IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua as a realistic opponent for the summer, Tyson Fury fired back at him on Sunday by saying he will be ready to face him by mid-year. Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) says he’ll be ready to fight Joshua by this summer.
Whether Fury will be ready to fight Joshua by the summer is immaterial. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t want to rush the Fury fight. Hearn wants Fury to get back in the ring and fight some warm-up fights before he looks put together the Joshua-Fury fight. Fury is in such a rush to face Joshua. It comes across like he’s desperate to get that cash out money that he’ll make. Joshua’s reputation could wind up getting hurt by facing Fury in a farce with him waddling out into the ring, fat, out of shape and ring rusty. Joshua gains nothing by being a part of facing a roly-poly Fury.
Fury said this on his Twitter on Sunday in response to Joshua dismissing him as unfit and not ready to fight:
“Just seen Anthony Joshua trying to play my challenge down saying I’ve not had a fight & not fit! I’m ready for this summer don’t [expletive] yourself now it’s been put on you!?”
Fury has his reasons for not wanting to take some tune-up fights to get ready for the Joshua match. Wladimir Klitschko took a fight with Joshua coming off of a 2-year layoff last April, and that was bad enough. But at least in the case of Klitschko, he wasn’t obese and he didn’t have to burn off 150 pounds of fat to get back to his old fighting weight. Fury was walking around at near 400 pounds, and he’s got to take all that fat.
Fury is no longer hovering near 400 lbs., but he’s still looking like he’s near 300 lbs. How will it look if Fury walks into the ring with Joshua, sporting pot belly and gasping for breath after each time he throws a punch. Fury’s recent workout video on Youtube showed him looking badly winded while taking turns hitting a water bag with WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. That was sad to see. Saunders was hitting the bag with seemingly more power and authority than Fury, and he’s not even a big puncher for the 160 lb. division.
“That’s more of a fantasy at the moment. It’s just that he’s not fit and he hasn’t had a fight. The ball is in his court. We’ve stayed consistent, we’ve defended the titles we’ve won and we’ve captured more titles,” said Joshua to the dailymail.co.uk.
Someone has got to be the adult in this situation. Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn need to set the limits of when and under what conditions Tyson Fury can get a fight with them. It would make sense for Hearn to tell Fury that he needs to meet these conditions for him to get a fight against Joshua:
• Weight: 240 to 250 lbs.
• 4 to 6 tune-up fights under his belt
• No pot belly
• 60/40 purse split agreement
Joshua will be fighting WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker on March 31 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Joshua’s next opponent after that will be WBC champion Deontay Wilder, who has already said he’ll travel wherever he must for him to get the fight. Fury might get a chance to face Joshua in late 2018 if he’s shown that he’s serious about his comeback, and not just looking for a big cash out payday.