By Jim Dower: Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua says former champion Tyson Fury needs to start fighting already and forget about commentating about different guys he wants to fight. Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) says he’d like to fight the 29-year-old Fury, but he’s not going to wait around for ages for him to finally make his comeback to the sport.
The problem is Fury has taken so long to get his boxing license back, and to lose all the weight that he packed on in the last two years. Fury has finally gotten his weight down to close to where it was during his fighting days, but he still hasn’t scheduled a date or an opponent for his comeback, which is supposed to take place in June.
It’s pointless for Joshua to wait around for the 6’9” Fury to resume his career, because he’s not planning on fighting any quality heavyweights in 2018. This is a comeback year for Fury, and he’s likely going to face tune-up level opposition to get the cobwebs off his game. It’s been over 2 years since Fury last fought against Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015.
“He has to get himself back in action and worry about what he is doing, rather than sitting at home commentating on my fights,” Joshua said to Sky Sports News about Fury. “Realistically people don’t want to see a commentator. They want to see a fighter fight.”
Joshua should ignore Fury until at least 2019, because he’s not likely to face any serious opponents until then. Even next year, Fury will likely take it easy and fight the lower level heavyweight contenders, because he’s not going to take a risky fight that could put his big payday fight against Joshua in danger.
Fury will likely do the minimum to get himself pushed up the rankings. We’re not going to see Fury take on any heavyweight contenders that could give him a tough time like Adam Kownacki, Kubrat Pulev, Jarrell Miller, Dillian Whyte, Alexander Povetkin or Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller. Those guys would be too dangerous for Fury to fight.
Joshua obviously wants the payday that a fight against Fury would give him, but he cannot afford to think about that fight. Fury is going to take a long time before he ramps up his game to where it was in the past, and that’s not going to happen soon. Joshua needs to focus on his own career, as he has a lot of tough opponents that he has yet to face in Deontay Wilder, Povetkin, Miller and Pulev. There’s also a big money rematch against Dillian Whyte that would be an interesting fight for the fans.
“Until he makes his return to the ring, I cannot sit down and wait patiently at home for Tyson Fury’s return. I have a career and goals I want to achieve so I am focusing on what I am doing,” Joshua said.
Joshua should stop mentioning Fury’s name, because he’s not an active fighter. Until Fury makes his comeback and proves that he still has his boxing skills, it’s a waste of time for AJ to mention him. There are a lot of question marks about whether Fury will even be half the fighter that he once was.