Anthony Joshua says he wasn’t surprised to see Tyson Fury have problems with Francis Ngannou last October, barely scraping by with a ten-round split decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) states that he’s seen WBC heavyweight champion Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) fight, and he feels that if he fought him, it would be a similar situation.
AJ notes that some people call the 35-year-old Fury “the greatest,’ but he doesn’t see it that way.
Rivalry Reignited
Joshua could show the boxing world how much better he is than the massive 6’9″, 270+ lb behemoth Fury if he wins his scheduled 10-round fight next month against Ngannou (0-1) on March 8th in Riyadh and if Tyson is victorious in his undisputed championship match against IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk on May 18th.
“No [I wasn’t surprised] at all,” Joshua said to DAZN when asked about his thoughts on Fury’s grueling match against Ngannou. “I’ve watched Tyson Fury box a number of times – people claim he’s the greatest, but I think if I boxed Tyson Fury, a lot of similarities would happen in the fight.”
AJ isn’t simply dismissing Fury; he’s positioning himself as the superior, more capable heavyweight. This narrative casts doubt on Fury’s ability to overcome Joshua’s perceived advantages in size, power, and technical skill. Should he fulfill his knockout prophecy against Ngannou, it’ll lend support to the idea that Joshua, not Fury, is the heavyweight to beat.
Joshua’s statements serve as a direct, well-timed call-out. They inject anticipation and fuel a competitive atmosphere that could translate into the Fury vs. Joshua showdown many boxing fans dream of.
Fury’s Controversial Wins: Tarnishing a Record
Obviously, he is not as good as his British fans had thought he was, believing he was a gem from the only two notable wins on his 16-year resume against 40-year-old Wladimir Klitschko and the badly flawed Deontay Wilder, who some fell Tyson cheated to defeat.
It’s clear that Fury should have at least four losses to his resume, but he was given huge breaks with referees and judges. John McDermott clearly beat him in their first fight, and Otto Wallin should have been given a stoppage win.
We all saw what happened in the first and third fights between Fury and Wilder. Those should have been stoppage wins for Wilder, in this writer’s view.