By Charles Brun: Trainer Andy Lee is predicting that Tyson Fury will mentally break Anthony Joshua and stop him late when they fight in 2021 in the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Lee says that IBF/WBA/WBO champion Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) can’t beat Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) with the style that he used to defeat Andy Ruiz Jr. last December.
That style of boxing and moving won’t work against Fury, says Lee. AJ’s only shot at defeating the 6’9″ Fury is for him to use a mix of punching and boxing like he used to do.
Lee feels it’s a good thing that Joshua is facing Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) first because that’ll help prepare him for facing Fury.
At the same time, it’ll help build their fight up. If Fury beats former WBC champion Deontay Wilder in their trilogy fight later this year and Joshua defeats Pulev, it sets the table for a big clash between the winners in 2021.
Fury breaks Joshua
“Tyson has a lot more ways to fight Joshua than Joshua [does to fight him],” said Lee to iFL TV. “If Joshua tries to adopt the style that he boxed Andy Ruiz with boxing and moving, I can’t see that being successful with Tyson. He’s going to have to be aggressive, and that would give him an opportunity.
“Two big meant like that; one punch can end the fight at any time. Tyson would break him down first mentally and then physically and maybe stop him late. It’s the biggest fight out there.
“The fight that everyone wants to see is Tyson against Joshua. Tyson has no preference in who he fights,” said Lee. “He probably wants to do a job on Wilder as well and finish it off to show that wasn’t a fluke.
“Wilder, with his injury or whether it was his suit, it only builds that fight [AJ vs. Fury] if they both win. I think Joshua probably needs another fight anyway,” said Lee.
If Lee had made this bold prediction of Fury mentally breaking Joshua last year, boxing fans would have laughed at him. But after the way, Andy Ruiz Jr. was able to defeat Joshua in New York in forcing him to quit in round seven; it’s entirely feasible that Fury could break him.
Joshua, 29, didn’t look mentally healthy in his rematch with Ruiz last December in Saudi Arabia, even though he still won. There was a sense of vulnerability there at all times with Joshua, and one got the feeling that he could have crumbled if Ruiz had trained for the match.
Joshua facing Pulev is a good move
“He [Joshua] lost to Ruiz, and then came back and won the second fight,” said Lee of Joshua. “He made a considerable improvement. Joshua’s old style was that of a boxer/puncher and finisher and now being a boxer.
“Practicing that against Pulev, who is tall and the same stature as Tyson, would be a good move for him. And then it only builds the fight eventually if Tyson beats Wilder and he beats Pulev, then it sets up the biggest fight in heavyweight history,” said Lee.
Joshua’s old style of fighting in which he would rush his opponents and look to bang them out will be a far better style against Fury than if he attempts to box him. If Joshua tries to outbox Fury, he’ll be barking up the wrong tree. That would be playing to Fury’s strengths, and it could end badly for AJ to try doing that.
It’s a good move for Joshua to distance himself further from his loss to Ruiz Jr by facing the 6’4 1/2″ Pulev this year. There still isn’t a date or a venue for the fight, but Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is still working on that. Aginst Pulev, Joshua, will be able to experiment with some different things that he can use against Fury.
It would be a good idea for Joshua to let the fight last as long as possible so he can do different things. As long as Joshua is comfortable in there, he can extend it against Pulev and use him as a sparring partner-level opponent to experiment on.
Deontay Wilder is mentally broken
“At some point, he has maybe,” said Lee when asked if he’s mentally broken Deontay Wilder after beating him last February. “I think you could say that it’s not a good look for Wilder to come out and make excuses when you’ve been beaten like that.
“But in some ways, as a coach, I can understand that because a fighter still has that championship mindset. He wants to find some excuse just not to admit that the better man beat him. When I watch the [Fury vs. Wilder 2] fight back, he did kind of unravel very quickly.
“So maybe there were some issues there, and I certainly expect him to come back better if there is a third fight,” said Lee.
A lot of boxing fans are saying the same thing Lee is about Wilder looking like a mentally broken man after his loss to Fury. All the trash-talking that Wilder did in the past has stopped, and he’s now saying very little. That’s not a good sign.
Lee: Tyson dominates everyone
“Tyson, with all the fights he’s had, he’s always been able to dominate the person mentally, even Klitschko, said, Lee. “Chisora is one of the most controversial people.
“Maybe not so much now, but back then, he spits in Wladimir’s face and slapped the other brother [Vitali] at the weigh-in. No one could get over him, and even David Haye couldn’t handle him. When he fought Tyson Fury, he was as friendly as can be, and that was mainly because of Tyson.
“I don’t know what he has. Against Wilder, when Tyson was aggressive, Wilder was aggressive in terms of back and forth at press conferences. And when Tyson wanted to be nice, Wilder was nice. Tyson said, ‘I’m playing with him. I’ve got him on a string.’ Tyson knows how to do that. He’s the best I’ve ever seen,” said Lee.
Fury’s mind games outside of the ring don’t help him as much as Lee thinks. That’s not why he’s winning his fights. He’s winning because he’s hard to hit, and his opponents are afraid of missing and then getting countered.
