By Barry Holbrook: Tony Bellew believes that Anthony Joshua has too much power and finishing ability for him to let Tyson Fury off the hook after he drops him in their upcoming ight.
Unlike Deontay Wilder, Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) won’t let Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) survive after he knocks him down, according to Bellew.
Wilder had Fury knocked cold in the 12th round of their first fight in 2018, but he let him get back up and finish the fight strong. Bellew doesn’t see Fury being able to get up and survive with Joshua attacking him with big power shots.
With the way Joshua performed against Kubrat Pulev, Fury is really up against it in this fight. Joshua is punching better than ever now, and his uppercut has become a lethal weapon for him.
The recent transformation of Fury becoming a medium distance brawler will make him vulnerable to Joshua’s uppercut and his left hook. Both of those weapons will be used extensively by AJ if Fury chooses to fight him the way he did Wilder and Otto Wallin.
If Fury takes the fight to the outside as he did against Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, he’ll be trying to match Joshua’s jab for jab. That’s not a good idea. Joshua has a much better jab and long game than Fury.
Joshua stops Fury says Bellew
“Imagine if Anthony Joshua drops you like that in the twelfth round like that, do you really think you’re going to be able to carry on when he dropped him later on?” said Bellew to iFL TV in talking about whether Fury would survive against Joshua if he gets dropped the way he did against Deontay Wilder in their first fight.
“We saw what he [Joshua] did with Klitschko. That’s somebody technically very good at surviving, and that’s someone that can keep you away when he’s at his best.
“He goes and finds a way to get rid of you. That’s the difference I see. AJ will get his opportunity [against Fury], and he will land, and he will hurt him.
“He’s got the speed and the technical ability to carry on and go with it,” Bellew said of Joshua. “There have been numerous fighters that have dropped Fury over the years, like Steve Cunningham.
“He dropped him, but then he was mystified by his size and what to do. Then you’re lost. 30 seconds pass, and then a minute passes, and then your opportunity is gone.
“He isn’t allowing that to happen. I just don’t see it. I just see him [Joshua] landing something heavy and then getting on with it.
“And I think it has to be in the first six rounds, and I think it will. I’ll stand by that statement; I really will,” Bellew said in predicting a knockout win for Joshua over Fury.
It’s going to be extremely tough for Fury to stay in there with Joshua if he and his trainer Sugar Hill Steward recycles the game plan they used for the Wilder fight.
That style would play into Joshua’s hands, giving him easy opportunities to land his best shots at a distance where he can get maximum power.
Bellew expects to get stick from fans
“Even though I’ll get so much stick for it because they’ll think I’m mates with him [Joshua],” said Bellew about him likely to be criticized for picking Joshua over Fury.
“I say it because I’m mates with AJ. Yeah, I get on great with AJ. I get on great with Tyson Fury. He might not feel like that, but I do. I’ve known him a lot longer than AJ.
“It’s just my opinion. What will be will be—it’ just me trying to break down a fight and tell how it’ll happen. I’m not emotionally involved in any shape or form.
“I just look at fights and break them down. That’s my opinion of the fight. So many people are emotionally involved. ‘Oh, you got to be Fury or Joshua.’
“No, just break the fight down, and tell me his strengths and his weaknesses, and his attributes vs. his attributes. Look at it like that. It’s not hard to figure out, mate,” said Bellew.
It’s a no-brainer that the fans will let Bellew have it with both barrels for him picking Joshua to win. A lot of the boxing fans have become followers of Fury because of his personality, charisma, and his recent win over Wilder.
Fury’s lack of power will make it impossible for him to do what Andy Ruiz Jr did after he got up off the canvas to hurt Joshua in their first fight.
If Fury gets dropped the way Ruiz did in the third round, he’s getting to get up and start slapping, and that’s not going to keep Joshua off of him. That’s why if Fury hits the deck, it’s curtains for him.
If the fight goes to the scorecards, Fury will have a hard time getting the decision because Joshua will have landed the harder shots throughout the contests.
The judges tend to score rounds for the fighter that is landing the cleaner, more effective punches. If all Fury is doing is slapping or clubbing Joshua behind the head, the judges won’t be impressed with that.