Andre Ward says Tyson Fury made MISTAKE announcing Joshua fight, giving Wilder motivation

By Boxing News - 06/13/2020 - Comments

By Max Seitelman: Andre Ward doesn’t like how Tyson Fury has given Deontay Wilder “bulletin board’ ammunition to motivate him for the trilogy fight by announcing his two-fight deal this week with Anthony Joshua for 2021.

Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) couldn’t keep his mouth shut and leaked the news of the Joshua deal on his social media.

Ward sees that move by Fury as a blunder that will lead to Wilder getting the extra motivation to beat him when they fight for the third time.

Andre does want to see the undisputed championship take place. Still, he doesn’t like Fury’s methods by overlooking his next opponent, former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) and dismissing him as a potential threat.

What Ward might not know is Fury and Joshua will still probably fight in 2021, even if ‘The Gypsy King’ loses to Wilder.

They’re going to make the Joshua-Fury fight happen because Joshua is starting to show vulnerability, and he may not have much time left as a significant player in the division.

Image: Andre Ward says Tyson Fury made MISTAKE announcing Joshua fight, giving Wilder motivation

Fury giving Wilder ‘Bulletin board material’

“I was one of the ones that were clamoring for an undisputed champion, but I just don’t like the path Tyson Fury is taking,” said Ward to Fighthype in criticizing Tyson Fury for announcing his fight with Anthony Joshua before facing Wilder.

I’m not a fan of giving an opponent, and that opponent right now is Deontay Wilder bulletin board material. This is a man Deontay Wilder, who took his first loss, a humiliating loss, and he’s dealing with his own pride being bruised,” said Ward.

Wilder is going to have MEAN intentions when he gets inside the ring with Fury this year. The punches that Wilder will be throwing will have knockout written all over them, and Fury is going to have to revert back to his pure boxing style of fighting to win.

Last time Fury fought Wilder; he bulldozed him by using his 40+ pound weight advantage. It worked because Wilder looked like he was half-drained from the first round, and no one knows for sure what was up with him.

It didn’t help that Fury was hitting Wilder with illegal punches to the back of the head the entire fight. Last Thursday, we saw Yenifel Vicente disqualified for continually fouling featherweight Jessie Magdaleno with low blows at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The referee took charge and disqualified Vicente for his continuous low blows in the 10th. In Fury’s case, he got away with throwing punches to the back of Wilder’s head all night without the referee stepping in to dock points and disqualify.

Punches to the back of the head are more serious than low blows, and yet Fury got away with his fouls, but Vicente was disqualified for the less dangerous low blows.

Ward doesn’t like the motivation Fury is giving Deontay

“He’s a competitor. If you’re Team Fury, you have to know and leave room for Deontay Wilder showing up at the rematch at the best version of himself,” continued Ward on Fury making a mistake.

“I don’t like the added motivation because even if Fury isn’t overlooking him, that’s how Team Wilder is going to interpret this,” said Ward.

If Wilder can’t get motivated for Fury making an early announcement, then it’s hard to see what would motivate him. Motivation along might not be enough for Wilder to beat Fury. He needs a good game plan and quality training. His trainers looked lost during the Fury fight last February, and Wilder needs someone else to help.

Tim Bradley agrees with Ward

“I’m in consensus with Andre Ward with this one,” said Tim Bradley in his disapproval of Fury announcing his fight with Joshua. “I don’t like it either, and I believe you’ve got to focus on one fight at a time, and that’s it.

‘You can never count your eggs before they actually hatch. Both of these guys [Fury and Wilder] are obligated to fight the fight already. You’ve got Fury needs to fight Wilder, and as Andre said, it’s going to be a tough task for him,” said Bradley.

It was arguably a disrespectful move in announcing the Fury vs. Joshua fight right now. Joshua still needs to defend his IBF title against his mandatory Kubrat Pulev. Overlooking Pulev is just as bad as Fury overlooking Wilder.

Image: Andre Ward says Tyson Fury made MISTAKE announcing Joshua fight, giving Wilder motivation

Bradley understands why Joshua and Fury’s rationale for announcing their fight

“I do understand this. I do understand what these guys [Joshua and Fury] are doing,” said Bradley. “They’re planning for the uncertainty right now. Boxing is back, but they’re not sure when the big-time boxing is going to be back.

“They’re making sure they’re penciling in their pocketbooks to give them a little more motivation to get through this to keep their eye on the prize for the fans. And they’re letting the fans know also that they want this fight.

“They want to fight each other,” said Bradley in trying to understand why Joshua and Fury are already announcing their fight.

The reason Fury and Joshua are trying to build interest in their fights for next year right now, but they don’t need to do that. Fans will be motivated to see the fights as long as both guys look good in winning their interim matches in 2020.

YouTube video