Tyson Fury doubts Anthony Joshua fight will happen

By Boxing News - 08/28/2020 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Carl Froch said on his podcast this that Tyson Fury told him via DM that he doesn’t believe that Anthony Joshua or his promoter Eddie Hearn will make the fight happen with him.

Froch says Fury sees Joshua as a “s*** house,” and he believes he would make easy work of the IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion if that fight were made.

The signs are already there that Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) won’t be fighting WBC heavyweight champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), considering that AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants to Dillian Whyte to challenge Tyson for his belt in early 2021.

Fury smells fear from AJ & Hearn

Hearn wants Whyte to face Alexander Povetkin in November. If Dillian beats him, then he’ll attempt to get the WBC to Fury-Whyte fight early next year. The belief is, Hearn wouldn’t be trying to force the Fury-Whyte battle if he wasn’t trying to protect Joshua.

“I put something on my Insta story – AJ and Fury facing off. I’ve had a message in my direct inbox from Tyson Fury. He’s put, ‘Fight won’t happen, the man’s a s***house. He and his promoter know I’ll go through him like a hot knife through butter,’” said Froch @FrochOnFighting

Image: Tyson Fury doubts Anthony Joshua fight will happen

AJ is bringing in a great deal of money to Matchroom each time he fights, and it would be a significant blow to their revenue stream if the fans turned their back on him following a loss to Fury.

Fury and Joshua have already agreed to a two-fight in 2021, but that doesn’t mean that Hearn wants either of those two fights to happen. Joshua and Matchroom are in a position where they have to try and make the fight with Fury because of the pressure from the fan.

But that doesn’t mean the fight will take place. If something happens to Fury, such as a loss to Whyte, then Joshua would be off the hook. Hearn recently said that if Fury vacated his WBC title, Joshua would face whoever had the title. In other words, Fury wasn’t the guy that he and Joshua wanted.

They wanted the WBC title. The boxing public sees it differently. They don’t care about the WBC title, as there are already enough belts that would be on the line for the Fury vs. Joshua match.

No faith in Joshua

It won’t make a shred of difference if Fury vacates his WBC title. He’d still be the Ring Magazine and Lineal heavyweight champion, which some would argue, are valuable than the WBC belt.

Fury still needs to defend his WBC title against Deontay Wilder in a trilogy match in December. Joshua also has a fight in front of him against his IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev, which is supposed to take place in December as well.

Image: Tyson Fury doubts Anthony Joshua fight will happen

Former super middleweight champion Froch still believes that Joshua wants the fight with Fury because he knows if he doesn’t take it, he’ll look bad in the eyes of fans.

“He [Fury] genuinely doesn’t think that Joshua or Eddie Hearn wants the fight but I think they do. I think AJ has to take the fight or his credibility is gone,” said Froch. “That’s the one everyone wants to see and it has to happen next.”

Froch is wrong. Joshua vs. Fury WON’T happen next. Both guys still have interim fights they need to get out of the way before they can look to face each other in 2021. Moreover, Hearn is always yapping about wanting Whyte to beat Alexander Povetkin in November.

He still thinks there’s an outside chance the WBC will let Whyte face Fury in early 2021, which is a pipedream at this point.

Promoter Frank Warren believes that Matchroom doesn’t want Joshua to get beaten by Fury. So they’re using Whyte as a pawn piece to try and prevent that from happening.

Warren: Matchroom doesn’t want their cash cow [Joshua] to get beat

“I wasn’t pleased that he [Whyte] got knocked out,” promoter Frank Warren said to BT Sport Boxing on Dillian getting stopped by Alexander Povetkin.

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“I was pleased that the barrier went because Matchroom was consistently using that,” Warren said about Whyte having been the barrier blocking the Joshua vs. Fury fight. “It’s gone now.

“We’ve agreed to 50-50 [for Joshua-Fury]. That obstacle is gone. Let’s make it happen. All we’ve got to do is deliver to the people that matter, the fans, and the two fighters. I think the two fighters want it. I don’t think Matchroom wants it at all,” Warren said of the Fury vs. Joshua fight.

“You can tell that. Barry Hearn was saying it [Fury vs. Joshua] can only be on Sky. I don’t know what planet he’s on. That world has moved on quite a bit now. You’ve only got six months left on your deal, Barry, with Sky.

“We know you don’t want to get your cash cow [Joshua] beat,” Warren said about Joshua. “Barry is an accountant. That’s what he was. He was an accountant. So he thinks that way. So if he gets his man beat, they’re in trouble.

“They’re [Matchroom] in big trouble if he gets beat. That’s their business more or less half gone out the window. He’s [Joshua] the most important asset they’ve got. So it seems to me that they don’t have the belief in their fighter that we’ve got with Tyson,” said Warren.

Fans will see for themselves in 2021 if Hearn is going to steer Joshua towards safer waters and keep him away from Fury, who is a huge risk for him. Assuming that Whyte beats Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs) in their rematch in November, we could see Hearn make his play to try and stave off the inevitable.

Frank knows Fury will beat Joshua

“I believe in Tyson Fury. I believe in him so much that we were going to give him four warmups,” said Frank. “After two, I said to Tyson, ‘Let’s make that fight with Wilder.’ I believed in him.

Image: Tyson Fury doubts Anthony Joshua fight will happen

“Let me tell you something. He won that fight. He got robbed. In the second fight, let’s go for it. We did the deal with ESPN. They got him some exposure, but we believed in him. Let’s make it again. I tell you what.

“Tyson knew it. He had to knock him out this time. He said it in the interview, and I said, stop him. And I believe in Tyson Fury, and I know he’ll beat Anthony Joshua. I don’t think I’m wrong.

“But Matchroom doesn’t believe in their man [Joshua], because if they believed in him, we wouldn’t keep getting all these obstacles keep getting put up. We’ve been making the biggest fight in British boxing history and, at the moment, the biggest fight world boxing,” said Frank.

If Hearn can keep Fury away from Joshua for a couple of years, the 6’9″ giant may start aging to the point where he’s less of a threat. With Fury, you also have the mental aspect in play.

Fury could suddenly fall off the deep end and start eating, partying, gaining eight, and sinking into depression. Something like that happening would help Joshua immensely.

Whyte was a pawn 

“We should be collectively making that for the fans and not constantly putting obstacles in its way. I think he was a pawn,” said Warren about Whyte. “I think he was the guy that was going to be mandatory so they [Matchroom] could stop the fight from happening with AJ [and Fury].

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“It was appalling. He [Whyte] was their own, and now that’s gone. It’s funny. The world goes round, and it all levels out, and it’s leveled out now. Let’s get it on. Let’s make things happen.

“What I saw on Saturday was exactly how I had expected it to end with Daniel [Dubois], and that’s why I wanted the fight,” Warren said of wanting to match Dubois against Whyte.

“If I thought he was going to get beat, I wouldn’t be screaming for the fight, would I? I fancied him to beat him. According to what’s being said and we just mentioned it, he’s got this rematch out of the way.

“Let’s hope he [Dillian] comes through and beats Povetkin if they do the rematch. Then he’s got to wait a year.

“So instead of sitting on his backside for a year, make the fight with the winner of Daniel and Joe [Joyce] from October 24. Let’s make the winner of that,” said Warren about wanting Whyte to face the Dubois vs. Joyce winner.

Eddie Hearn has been trying to angle Whyte towards the WBC champion since Wilder had the belt. Wilder noticed it too how Hearn seemed to be putting Whyte in between him and Joshua, and blocking the fight that he wanted to make.

You can argue that it’s not just Fury that Hearn was worried about. He also seemed to have concerns about Wiler, and that’s why he kept pushing Whyte on him.

Also, it goes further than Whyte. In the beginning, Hearn was talking about wanting Wilder to agree to a flat rate for the Joshua unification match. Right there, that seemed like Hearn didn’t want to make the Joshua vs. Deontay fight.

Fury vs. Wilder 3 still needs a date 

“He’s got a contract,” said Warren about Deontay Wilder having a contract to fight Fury in a trilogy match.

“The reason why he’s not vocal is that we’re in no man’s land about when we’re going to make the [Fury vs. Wilder III] fight, and how we’re going to make the fight happen.

Image: Tyson Fury doubts Anthony Joshua fight will happen

‘We’ve lost that record-taking gate that it took in Vegas for a heavyweight fight. So we’ve got to somehow make that money up in another area so the guys can get paid. It’s very difficult to do that at the moment.

“We’re talking to a few territories around the world that may be interested in doing it. COVID is part of the problem, but we’re hoping to get it on by December. And if we don’t, Tyson obviously wants to fight,” said Warren.

Fury vs. Wilder 3 may need to be moved into 2021 if crowds aren’t allowed back by December. There’s too much money at stake for that kind of fight not to take place in front of a live crowd.

It would be silly for it not to take place in front of fans, and I can’t imagine Fury wanting to walk away from millions. If they need to wait until February or March to stage the Fury-Deontay 3 fight, then so be it.