By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury says Deontay Wilder is more dangerous than Anthony Joshua, who he sees as a “baby” in comparison. WBC heavyweight champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) says Joshua is nowhere near his own ability, and he refers to himself as “undefeated.”
It’s common knowledge with fans that Fury should have lost his first fight against John McDermott in 2009 and was given what many boxing fans view as a gift decision.
That should have been a loss for Fury, and it’s unclear how he can call himself “undefeated” with a straight face. Fans saw for themselves that McDermott got the Better of Fury in the first fight, and it wasn’t even close. He dominated Fury, and the 98-92 score handed down by referee Terry O’Connor was woefully inadequate.
If Fury, 31, gets past former WBC champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) in their match, then he’ll get a chance to prove that he’s better than Joshua. We don’t know when Joshu and Fury will fighting next, unfortunately, due to the pandemic.
Joshua is NOT dangerous – Fury
All we know is Wilder WON’T be stepping aside so that Fury can face Joshua, and we don’t know who will win the Fury-Wilder 3 rematch. Joshua has to make a defense of his IBF title against mandatory Kubrat Pulev. Although AJ and his promoter Eddie Hearn would likely to put off the Pulev fight until AFTER he faces Fury, that’s not going to happen.
Pulev isn’t stepping aside, and the only way Joshua can get out from having to fight him is if he vacates his IBF title, and he’s not going to do that. Joshua values the titles too much for him to want to be giving them up so he can fight Fury.
“One-hundred percent, Joshua’s not dangerous, at all. He’s like a big cuddly baby,” Fury said to ESPN. “He couldn’t hold a candle to the ‘Gypsy King.’ There’s only one undefeated champion. Me. Unbeatable, untouchable, unbreakable.”
With Fury, you just don’t know if he’s serious or not. He seems to make comments just to irritate his opponents at times, and this looks to be a perfect example of that.
But if Fury is serious about his viewing Joshua as not a dangerous opponent, then he needs to think back to the sparring that the two had in the past. Fury made a big deal about how good Joshua was when they sparred, and a lot of fans believe that AJ battered him.
Joshua’s style is a bad one for Fury because he can’t count out-boxing him as he did with Wilder. AJ has the far better jab, and he’s not someone that Fury can outmaneuver the way he did against the lead-footed Wilder last February. Joshua has faster feet, superior power, and he’s a much better combination puncher.
Fury making too much out of the win over Wilder
“Me and ‘Sugar’ Hill had a good relationship going into the camp; we worked on knocking him out, that was it. That’s the ‘Kronk style’ — knocking people out,” Fury said.
“What I said from day one: that I’m going to knock Deontay Wilder out. Nobody believed it; it was what it was. The thing is I’m beating them, something I’ve done for 12 years as a professional.”
Fury needs to forget about his win over Wilder, and stop banging on about it. Yes, Fury beat Wilder, but it’s a fight that could have played out a different way if a few things were changed around.
Wilder could have won if these things had happened:
- Not worn the heavy ring-walk vest
- Kept his weight low at 212 to 215 pounds
- Been prepared for Fury’s aggressive attack
- Not backed up against the ropes
