By Barry Holbrook: Tyson Fury’s father John Fury says he’ll be “rooting” for former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to defeat IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk in July when they meet for their rematch.
John wants Joshua to be the guy that his son, WBC champion Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs), battles for the undisputed championship rather than Usyk.
That’s not an interesting fight in John’s mind. He prefers Joshua as Fury’s opponent, which makes sense because a match between AJ and Tyson would be a massive one, particularly in the UK.
Joshua looked poor in his 12-round unanimous decision loss to Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) last September at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, and the chances are high that he’ll lose the rematch in July.
To his credit, the 32-year-old Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) has bounced back once in his career, coming back from a seventh-round knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019 to defeat the American in December 2019.
If Joshua can come up with a good enough game plan for his rematch with the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Usyk in July, the mega-fight against Fury will be a possibility for later this year.
“AJ has been beat, but he has a terrible habit of bouncing back, hasn’t he?” said John Fury to iFL TV about Anthony Joshua. “I fancy him to get the return [by beating Usyk].
“He’s capable of being a three-time world champion. He’s got that about him. Believe me, he’s [Joshua] got a bit more oil in his can, and with the right people around him, I think he can do it,” said John.
Joshua has a new trainer, and he appears to have a great team behind him. If he can’t beat Usyk in the rematch, you have to put the blame on him.
“Let me tell you. In his case, he had the wrong plan in the off, didn’t he?” said John Fury. “If he changed things around and used what he’s got to his benefit, I don’t see a problem.
“I hope he does beat Usyk, I really do. I’m rooting for him. I’d be sick if Usyk won. Nothing against Usyk, he’s a great guy, but my heart lies with this Watford man.
“If AJ can win, wild horses couldn’t keep Tyson in retirement. All Instagram is run by other people. He’s [Joshua] a nice lad. I would say to him, come to us if he wants to win world titles. He’s got everything.
“It’s like being in a classroom. You know the answer, but nobody wants to put their hands up. You’re putting your hand up, but nobody is picking you.
“We’ve got the answers and the pieces to his jigsaw puzzle,” said John Fury about Joshua. “It’s up to him what he wants to do. He’s a big lad and he has the ability. We know that and we’ve discussed him,” said John.
