Prediction: Fury vs Joshua in late 2023 or early 2024

AJ cannot beat Tyson Fury in his dreams never mind in real life.

 

If Joshua had his old mentality when he was more aggressive i'd give him a better shot at Fury, but the fact that the Ruiz fight seems to have ruined him and he fights too cautiously now. So Fury is fairly big favourite as of now, unless Fury starts to age considerably with the constant weight gain and being inactive.

I always thought it was an interesting fight, due to the fact i think Joshua would land more frequently on Fury than Wilder would. And simply because he's a better boxer with more variety in his offence and is also a pretty big puncher himself.

 

Yeah I second this. Fury vs AJ will happen twice (there will be a rematch) then they will sail off into the sunset. Watch this space

 

I mean this with all seriousness:

a cocaine overdose has a better chance of defeating Fury than Anthony Joshua does

 

Meh.

 

I'll be happy if I ever get to see the pair of them actually doing their ring walks on the night..

 

Joshua is scheduled to face Wilder in December if he beats Whyte.

 

My prediction is it won’t happen.

 

Fury will fight Joshua next year if he loses against Whyte next month

 

Joshua has clearly been scared of Fury since Fury came back, took Wilder's shots and got some KOs.
Before that he and Hearn thought Fury was a good boxer but not so dangerous and also thought he was chinny. I remember those types of statements back then. They were super cocky about that fight.
Then it all changed after Joshua lost and Fury came back and performed.
Now they don't want to risk it except for a retirement cash-out situation.

They've had a few chances to make that fight and won't get it done, and also never call him out. You don't fight Franklin and Whyte and even Wilder if you really do want to fight Fury. You just press for that fight. The fact it's still the biggest money fight for Hearn and AJ and they are so indifferent to it says everything.

It wouldn't even surprise me if AJ won it, since Fury can be overconfident these days and if he doesn't take care of his defence, he can absolutely get hurt and stopped. If he tries plodding forward 'being the big dog' like he did against Wilder, he might just get finished this time. And Sugar Hill will have some goofy smile, so proud of AJ, just like Banks was after Wlad get KO'd.

 

"Joshua has clearly been scared of Fury since Fury came back"

Indeed.

Joshua 2017:

"Fury...where you at baby?"

Immediately after the Wlad fight while Fury's a 30 stone cokehead.

Joshua 2020:

"That's Eddie and 258's job. I started this game a few years ago, I'm not in a competition with anybody except myself, I'm the best version of myself, I want to fight whoever has the belt, name some opponents"

Immediately after the Pulev fight while Fury's riding high after destroying Wilder in the rematch.

There's a strong correlation between Fury succeeding and Joshua failing. As Fury got stronger, Joshua got weaker. He's like a spectre constantly looming over Joshua. While lifting weights in the gym Joshua no doubt imagines Fury calling him "a big useless bodybuilding dosser".

 

No, he isn't. That would be cool, but purely wishful thinking at this point.

 

Why Joshua losing makes the Fury fight less likely

Contrary to the theory that Fury is more likely to fight a beaten Joshua due to him being perceived as more vulnerable, Joshua losing has reduced and further reduces the chances of the Fury fight ever happening for a variety of reasons:

Practicality

- Joshua may get to retire early if Wilder KO's him

- Joshua losing pushes the fight date into the future (due to Joshua perpetually having rematches 6-11 months after and a tune up or two 8-12 months after the rematch) and Fury is older with more physical wear and less motivation than he had in the past

- Given that Usyk has the other belts and is generally regarded as the No.2 heavyweight (universally above his victim Joshua), Fury is likely to pursue a fight/fights with Usyk before he even thinks about fighting Joshua, which pushes that potential fight even further into the future

- At some point in the future Fury will retire for good (and before that may scale down his level of competition significantly, effectively retiring)

Competitiveness

As Joshua loses more fights, he and Hearn become less confident that he could beat Fury and thus less enthusiastic about making the fight

Politics

Joshua has long been the establishment golden boy so he may well have an advantage with the officials. Plus Fury would be expected to dominate as a big favourite so Joshua would get additional credit on the scorecards for even making the fight competitive. Obviously this is not appealing to Fury

Status

- Fury would get minimal credit for beating a four or five times beaten Joshua, may actually lose status if he had any trouble with a “washed”, “overhyped” Joshua and he’d be further devaluing the Joshua wins of his victims

- Fury is under far less “obligation” to fight a four or five times beaten Joshua, who no one really believes would beat Fury (like former rivals Price and Haye, who were also favoured to beat Fury at one point) and who most will believe avoided Fury if Fury goes on to beat Usyk

- The cost (especially in forfeiting your undefeated record) of losing to a four, five or six times beaten “domestic rival” Joshua (who has less to lose and is easier to underestimate) is much higher and it would be legacy-defining even if Joshua were undefeated, Fury’s previous wins would even be devalued. The risk of losing over two fights is obviously greater as well due to the random element and politics

- As undefeated Fury wins more legacy fights (Wlad in 2015, Wilder trilogy from 2018-2021, possibly Usyk in 2023 or 2024), the potential cost to his legacy in losing increases

Money

- The financial reward for beating a Joshua with four or five losses is much lower, especially as Fury’s net worth will be significantly higher after his next two or three fights

- Risk aside, a Joshua fight would likely be higher wear than Whyte and Chisora combined (the latter two being £20-30 million paydays apiece) and wear can compromise a fighter's ability to make and win fights in the future

Sadism

- Fury would like to deny Hearn and Joshua the opportunity and the mega paydays, so that Hearn will always regret not signing him, backing “Lossua” over him, not offering 50-50 terms sooner and not bending over backwards to make the fight post-Wilder 2

- Fury beating Joshua would allow Joshua to retire sooner, whereas not fighting him prolongs his career, the ruination of his legacy and his suffering