By Brad Slotnick: Anthony Joshua showed no interest in talking about wanting to fight Tyson Fury next while giving his thoughts during a post-fight interview last Saturday night after dispatching Kubrat Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs) in the ninth round at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London.
For his part, Fury is very interested in fighting Joshua next, but he expressed disappointment that he failed to bring him up after the fight.
Fury obviously wanted Joshua to tell the boxing world that he’s ready to face him next so they can start building up the match, but AJ didn’t do that.
When Joshua was asked if he were interested in fighting for the undisputed championship, he deferred the question to his promoter, Eddie Hearn. That looked kind of weird on Joshua’s part as if he’s not up for the fight with Fury.
The boxing fans expected IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion, Joshua, to immediately call out WBC champ Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) to fight for the undisputed championship. Still, he let them down by talking about other stuff.
One gets the sense from listening to Joshua’s comments that he doesn’t have an interest in facing Fury right now, but it’s possible that he chose to keep his thoughts hidden intentionally.
Recently, Joshua had been criticized by boxing fans for name-dropping due to the high number of times he talked about Fury during the build-up to the Pulev fight.
Fury wants Joshua next
“Well, there you go everyone, Anthony Joshua just s*** himself live on television,” said Tyson Fury on social media in racing to AJ failing to say he wants to fight him in the post-fight interview last Saturday.
“He got asked if he wants to fight, and he went around the bushes and put his a** in the hedge. I want the fight next. I’ll knock him out inside three rounds. He’s a big bum dosser,” said Fury.
It’s easy to see where Fury is coming from in wanting to take on Joshua next, as he looked worse than ever in beating the 39-year-old Pulev.
Joshua made what should have been an easy fight for him a lot harder by failing to fight aggressively consistently.
AJ was mostly fighting in brief spurts now and then and giving his older opponent Pulev every chance in the book to be competitive with him.
The version of Joshua we saw last Saturday night will have many problems against Fury if that fight takes place in early 2021, and maybe AJ knows that.
We saw a lot of ring rust on Joshua against Pulev, as it had been 12 months since he last fought against Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia. It wouldn’t hurt for Joshua to get in another fight before he looks in Fury’s direction.
WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk is still out there waiting for his title shot, and he’s already said he won’t step aside. If Joshua wants an excuse for not fighting Fury next, he’s got the perfect opportunity with Usyk there.
Joshua fails to commit to Fury fight
“Onto the next one. I can’t get too comfortable as a champion because I’ll be out again,” said Joshua after his win over Kubrat Pulev last Saturday. “I’d like to go out soon so I can keep up the momentum.
“Pulev was #1 with the IBF a serious challenger. He came in tried his best and got defeated. It’s on to the next one.
“Respect to Tyson Fury, he’s a talented guy, he’s got loads of fans, and he’ll make for a great competition when the time is ready.
“I’ll bring in my manager and promoter. You ask them,” said Joshua when asked if it’s time for him to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
“I’m a warrior. This is my first time back in London in how many years? I’ve been on the road, it’s good to be back home, and I’ll fight anyone. You know that. I’ve been challenging some good opponents,” said Joshua.
AJ saying that he’ll fight Fury “when the time is right” is a dead give away that he’s not interested in facing him. Anytime you hear a fighter say, ‘We’ll get together one of these days,’ it means that they don’t want to fight that person.
AJ throwing uppercuts to honor Mike Tyson
“In honor of Mike Tyson, even though I’m more like a Larry Holmes, Riddick Bowe type of fighter,” said Joshua when asked if he likes to throw uppercuts. “I’m a tall, rangy [fighter].
“I feel like when I was watching a lot of fighters before, I heard the public saying that big guys don’t know how to throw uppercuts anymore.
“Larry Holmes was an inspiration as well, and the Earnie Shavers power I’ve been working on and Evander Holyfield. I take inspiration from a lot of the greats.
“Boxing is a serious business, and you’ve got to indulge yourself in the greats that come before you in order to be great,” said Joshua. “I’m trying my luck at this business and I’m taking it serious,” said Joshua.
The uppercut proved to be Joshua’s money punch to get Pulev out of there in the ninth round. Joshua landed that shot again and again in putting Fury down twice on the canvas in the ninth.
As good as Joshua threw his uppercuts, they were nowhere near as powerful as Mike Tyson’s during his prime.
Hearn to try and make Joshua vs. Fury
“We all know what we got to do,” said promoter Eddie Hearn when asked when Joshua will fight Tyson Fury.
“We all know what he wants. He [Joshua] doesn’t want to talk about it. He only wants to take about it if it’s signed and delivered, and that’s my job.
“We know what we have to deliver for the fans. It’s the only fight to make next, the biggest fight in boxing,” said Hearn.
The Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn will look to put the Fury fight together for Joshua, but that doesn’t mean he’ll agree to it. If Joshua doesn’t want that fight, he won’t sign.
Hearn probably wants the Joshua vs. Fury fight more than AJ does, as that’s a match-up that Eddie has been talking about for ages.
Ideally, it would be better for Joshua to tell Hearn now if he has no intentions of fighting Fury next because he won’t put in the effort to make it.
Hearn could then negotiate the fight between Joshua and Usyk to satisfy his WBO mandatory commitments. If Joshua doesn’t face Usyk net, he’ll be stripped of his title.