By Charles Brun: Promoter Frank Warren has ruled out a fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in 2023.
According to Warren, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has told him what fights he wants, and he feels Joshua & his team don’t want the fight. Moreover, Warren says another reason why the Fury-Joshua fight can’t take place is that AJ still doesn’t have a trainer at this point.
The final clincher for why the mega-fight with Fury can’t take place is that Joshua wants several bouts before his rematch with Dillian Whyte.
Presumably, the three fights would be tune-up level opponents for the struggling former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs), who has lost his last two fights and three out of his last five.
Additionally, Joshua has fought just twice in the last two years, meaning he’s got inactivity issues that have slowed his career to a crawl.
“What do you do with Daniel Dubois at the moment?” said Gareth A. Davies to Pitch Boxing, speaking to promoter Frank Warren about WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois.
“With both him and Joe [Joyce], you’ve got to tread water with them because [WBC heavyweight champion] Tyson [Fury] fights [IBF, WBA & WBO champ Oleksandr] Usyk, and I hope we get it over the line.
“He fights Usyk, and then there will be mandatory defenses coming up, and the first one is the WBA, according to the rotation system. Tyson has got to make a decision whether he wants to fight him [Dubois] or vacate the title if Tyson beats Usyk and vice versa with Usyk.
“So they’re in very good positions, and Tyson has already said that he wants to fight Joe Joyce. So there are two great fights for Tyson this year before we even start,” said Warren.
“No, and I’ll tell you why we can’t see it,” said Warren when asked if Fury will fight Anthony Joshua in 2023. “Tyson has told me what fights he wants. That’s number one, and number two, they [Team Joshua] don’t want the fight.
“They had the chance to make it for the title. We went through that palaver with Frank Smith, who works with Hearn, who came out afterward and said there wasn’t enough time, which there was. We moved the date to December to accommodate.
“More importantly, he [Joshua] doesn’t even have a trainer. He didn’t have a trainer then, so why do we waste our time? He doesn’t have a trainer, and then I’m hearing that he wants three fights before he even decides to fight Dillian Whyte. What is that all about?
“He’s a former world champion. He’s not some young kid coming back. He should get a new trainer, have a quick fight and then fight somebody,” said Warren about Anthony Joshua.
“I’m looking at stars on the wane. Anthony Joshua has fought twice in the last two years. I’m not trying to knock him here. He’s had two losses,” said Davies. “The second fight with Usyk was a much better performance, but in terms of Anthony Joshua, I know he’s not your fighter, but he does need a really good 2023 to get back on track,” Davies said.
“Well, he does. He’s lost three out of his last four; that’s what he’s done. So that’s showing that he’s not exactly in a good place,” Warren said, talking about Joshua.
“He’s been there; he’s had a good run, he’s made a lot of money, and was in the right place at the right time for a couple of fights. The truth of the matter is he’s not going to beat these guys. They’re talking about fighting Dillian Whyte.
“There’s two good fights that he could have had immediately and pick the opponent. Either fight Joe Joyce or Daniel Dubois, and he won’t fight either of them,” said Warren about AJ.
“You’d put either of those guys straight in with Anthony Joshua?” said Davies.
“It’s not even an issue for me,” said Warren about his willingness to match Joyce or Dubois with Joshua straightaway.