Anthony Joshua says he sees IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk defeating WBC belt-holder Tyson Fury next month on February 17th in their undisputed championship fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) states that he hopes Fury comes out victorious because he wants to fight him for the undisputed. Whether that can happen remains to be seen.
Usyk is faster than Fury and does not carry around a lot of extra weight the way he is.
Fury’s abandonment of his movement in the last five years could be a problem for him because he’s not going to be able to maul Usyk the way he did Deontay Wilder in fights #2 and #3. Usyk is a mover, and it could prove a formidable task for him to get his arms around him to start mauling.
The 35-year-old Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) wasn’t at his best in his recent fight against Francis Ngannou last October. If Fury looks like that on February 17th, he won’t win unless the judges bail him out again as they did for the Ngannou fight.
Joshua can’t assume he’ll win his next fight against Ngannou on March 8th because that’s going to be a tough one for him, especially if he plans on exchanging power shots. Ngannou is an excellent power puncher and he’s exceptional with counter-punching.
“It’s going to be a good fight,” Joshua told Sky Sports News about the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk contest. “I think Usyk edges it. I think Usyk will win, but I’d rather fight Fury.”
Even if Fury does lose, that doesn’t have to be the end of a fight between him and Joshua. They can still meet in Saudi Arabia or in the UK, and fans will still be interested in seeing the contest. Joshua has already lost three times, and fans still want to see him fight Fury.
Fans won’t be under the illusion that this is a fight between the two best heavyweights in the division, regardless.
Fury has slowed down and has never fought an A-level fighter in his career. His best name on his resume is 40-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, and he was finished by the time they fought.