By Charles Brun: Joe Joyce doesn’t think it’s a good idea for Tyson Fury to recycle the same gameplan that he used for the Deontay Wilder rematch when he faces Anthony Joshua in June in their heavyweight unification fight.
What worked for Fury (31-0-1, 21 KOs) against former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder could prove to be a disaster for the ‘Gypsy King’ against IBF/WBA/WBO champ Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs).
It could be that the die has been cast and Fury, 32, won’t be able to change his style of fighting no matter what for the Joshua fight.
Fury has gotten a taste of success by using his new Kronk Gym style of brawling against Wilder and Otto Wallin, and he could be stuck in his ways now, believing he can beat Joshua by bum-rushing him like he did those two.
Joyce recommends Fury not slug with AJ
In listening to him talk, Fury seems to fancy himself as a knockout artist now after the success he had against Deontay. This could spell trouble for Fury because Joshua actually can punch, and he does well against fighters that go straight into the teeth of his offense.
“That’s a tough fight, a 50-50 fight,” said Joe Joyce to BT Sport Boxing on the Joshua vs. Fury unification clash. “I don’t even know how it’s going to go. “For instance, Fury-Wilder 1, he [Fury] was more elusive. In Fury-Wilder 2, Fury came forward. So I wonder what he’s going to do against Joshua?
“It’s a 50-50 fight, and hopefully, we see something spectacular. I’m not sure that’ll be a wise idea against Joshua, though,” said Joyce on the idea of Fury fighting AJ the same way he did Deontay Wilder in their rematch.
Unless Fury comes down from his cloud, he’s going to walk into something against AJ and take a nap on the canvas as he did in the first fight with Deontay in 2018.
Unfortunately for Fury, it’s unlikely referee Jack Resis will be working the fight with Joshua.
As such, if Fury gets poleaxed by Joshua and knocked cold, he won’t be able to count on a referee giving him a count while he’s unconscious. Any referee that sees Fury knocked out will do the logical thing and halt the contest.
Given the size, power, and speed of Joshua, Fury is better off reverting back to the spoiling style of fighting that he employed for most of his career.
It worked well for Fury to fight off the back foot, stay on the outside and befuddle his opponents. He needs to try that style against Joshua before hitting the nuclear button and choosing to slug.
Joshua is dangerous when he comes forward
“I know Joshua can come forward, and when he does, he’s very dominant and gets very powerful and dangerous when he comes forward,” said Joyce
“But he’s also learned to be on his back foot and just like pick the shots and be very similar to like how you know like careful and safe the Klitschko style behind the jab and the classic boxing style,” said Joyce.
It won’t work for Joshua if he stays on the outside all night long because that’ll enable Fury to impress the judges with how he dodges his shots. We, Fury, do that against Wladimir Klitschko all night in their fight in 2015.
Even though Wladimir landed the better shots in each round, the judges were impressed how Fury could dodge a lot of his punches.
For Joshua to win, he’s got to take the fight to the inside and look to separate Fury from his senses with one of his big uppercuts.
Someone may get dropped
“I’m sure it’ll ignite and there will be some big punches. Someone may get knocked down and get back up,” Joyce said. “Everyone can keep on speculating but until the fight happens, you don’t really know.
“He’s [Joshua] got such big arms. His entire guard is tight. Obviously, Fury can be loose and unpredictable, so shots can come from anywhere. So it’s going to be very interesting which way it’s going to go,” Joyce said.
Fury doesn’t have the punching power to drop Joshua unless he hits him behind the head like he was doing against Wilder all night in their rematch.
If Fury lands repeated rabbit shots without being penalized or disqualified for fouling, he’s got a chance to drop Joshua and maybe even knock him out.
A quality referee will nip the fouling of Fury in the bud, and he’ll be forced to try and beat Joshua the old fashioned way. Joshua has the faster hands, and he’ll get to Fury on the outside.
If the action goes to the inside, Joshua has the uppercut that he’ll be looking to use to KO Fury the way he did Kubrat Pulev. The uppercut that Joshua throws could be a showstopper if Fury tries to slug in close as he did against Wilder.
Joyce has sparred both Joshua and Fury
“Five years at GB up and Sheffield with him,” said Joyce about having sparred Joshua in the past. “He went and did his London thing [2012 Olympics], and then with Rob McCracken.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9IGBZnrcuM
“He’s still there. I’ll take the winner who has all the belts,” said Joyce about wanting to fight the winner of the Joshua vs. Fury fight.
“They’re both at the top of their game, so credit to both of them. They’re amazing boxers and great guys outside of the ring as well,” said Joye about AJ and Fury.
Joyce was obviously playing it politically correct by choosing not to share his thoughts on which of the two fighters he would prefer to fight. He’s sparred with Joshua and Fury enough times to know which of the two he’d prefer to go up against.
But with the UK being such a small fishbowl, it wouldn’t be in Joyce’s best interest to anger Joshua or Fury by saying that he prefers to fight one over the other. Fury would likely be the easier option for Joyce because he’s vulnerable t the chin and the breadbasket.