By Scott Gilfoid: Showing signs of desperation, Tyson Fury has accepted Anthony Joshua’s offer to help with sparring to prepare for his rematch against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) on February 22 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fury (29-0-1,20 KOs) has 9 1/2 weeks left of training time to get ready for the talented 6’7″ Wilder, and he’s starting to show signs of him mentally unraveling. On Monday, news of Fury replacing his trainer Ben Davison for American coach Javan Sugar Hill. Davison had helped Fury lose all the fat that he’d put on during his 2 1/2 years out of the ring.
Unfortunately, it really doesn’t matter who works Fury’s corner for the fight. They’re not going to be able to run interference for him to block Wilder’s hands from dropping him again.
Wilder knocked Fury clean out last time they fought, and arguably should have had his hand raised. The referee that worked the Wilder-Fury fight last December won’t be officiating their rematch. So if Fury gets knocked out again, he’s going to have problems when he comes to.
Fury says he’ll fight Joshua AFTER he beats Wilder
“I’ve just seen the video of Joshua on Sky Sports, saying he’d love to come and help me in camp and that I’d fight him quicker than Wilder, that’s for sure,’ Tyson Fury commented on his Instagram site on Tuesday. “When I beat Wilder, I will fight you, AJ, no problem.”
Fury trying to sound upbeat, but his actions speak volumes about what’s going inside his head. He’s given his trainer the boot, and now he’s desperation enough to use Joshua as a sparring partner. What does that tell you about Fury’s mental state, eh? I thinks he’s crumbling at the seams mentally. The looming prospect of facing Wilder is starting to eat at Fury, picking him apart.
Will Joshua give Fury a fight if he gets knocked out by Deontay?
If Wilder knocks Fury out cold on February 22, he’s going to need a boost up career-wise, and who better to give him that helping hand than Joshua. Gilfoid hates to say it though that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for Fury to take on Joshua in his next fight after losing to Wilder.
Fury’s promoters at Top Rank Boxing will probably want to put him in with another Tom Schwarz-level heavyweight to help him give him a confidence boost, and make sure there’s no lingering after effects from the knockout loss to Wilder.
If Fury wants to gamble, then by all means, he should face Joshua after a loss to Wilder. Personally, it would be foolish for Fury to do that, but if he wants to gamble with his career, he should do it.
Joshua’s offer to help with sparring accepted by Fury
“I’d love to have you in camp, mush,” said Fury about Joshua. “Really, really love to have you in camp workout for this fight and give Deontay Wilder a proper beating.
“I’d love to, I hope you mean it because I’ve love to have you in training camp with me,” said Fury in accepting Joshua’s offer to help him train for the Deontay rematch. “Thanks very much by the way and well done in your last fight [against Andy Ruiz Jr]. Congratulations and fair play,” said Fury.
The impression that Gilfoid has is Joshua is willing to do ANYTHING just not to fight Wilder, and that includes helping Fury to save him. It’s pretty sad, actually. If this is the only thing Joshua can do to try and keep Wilder from fighting him, then it’s kind of pathetic. If Joshua wants Wilder’s prestigious World Boxing Council belt, he needs to face him instead of trying to help Fury do all the dirty work on his behalf.
Joshua seems to be forgetting that he has a mandatory defense he needs to start preparing for. He doesn’t have time to waste trying to save Fury from his fate. Whatever happens on February 22, Joshua isn’t going to be able to change anything for the better. When Wilder lands that sledgehammer right hand of his on Fury’s chin, there’s nothing that Joshua can do to help with that.