Tony Bellew on Joshua’s future and Fury superfight

Anthony Joshua would almost certainly start as underdog for a superfight against Tyson Fury next year.

The two British heavyweight world champions appear to be on the brink of finally sealing their eagerly-awaited showdown.

And for many fight fans, it is the ONLY THING they want to talk about when it comes to AJ’s future.

But former cruiserweight king Tony Bellew believes Fury (30-0-1) is not the toughest fight out there for Joshua (23-1).

And he says there is another British fighter who potentially would give him way more trouble.

Bellew joined ‘White And Jordan” on talkSPORT  to talk about the fascinating heavyweight division.

AJ beats Fury says Bellew

“It’s crazy the way the heavyweight division’s working at the minute because I think there’s a couple of guys who do have a chance against Tyson Fury,” he said.

“I think AJ does beat Tyson Fury, but he’s got six rounds to do it. If it goes past six rounds, I don’t think he beats Tyson Fury.

“To beat Tyson Fury you’ve got to be willing to jump on him and not care what’s coming back.

“And I believe the only heavyweight in the world with the skillset, the speed and the accuracy who can do it is AJ.

Whyte remains a huge threat

So while Bellew believes the upset potential in Fury vs Joshua is very real, he thinks there is much tougher night out there for the man from Watford. Namely former WBC mandatory contender Dillian Whyte.

He revealed: “On the other hand, when it comes to matching other fighters up – I may think AJ beats Fury, but I think AJ has real problems going in with Dillian Whyte in a rematch because styles make fights.

“Dillian will put pressure on AJ and he’ll probably trade. Because it’s so fierce between them with the rivalry and the domestic stuff, he’d probably get caught up in a war and that’d be wrong.

“If AJ went in and boxed against someone like Dillian Whyte, he gives himself a much better opportunity.

“But when emotions take part, things get out of hand, you get caught up in the moment and you start trading.

“I think for AJ going in against Fury, he doesn’t get involved with any of that.

“He just literally jumps on him and throws and lets the punches go.

“AJ’s the fastest combination puncher in the heavyweight division since Mike Tyson.

“No-one throws punches in combinations with the speed, power and ferocity that AJ does.

“As I said, he’s got six rounds to do it against Fury. If them six rounds go past then I don’t see anybody beating Tyson Fury after six rounds.”

The road to Fury vs Joshua

The road to Fury vs Joshua, while it remains complex, may have gotten a little bit clearer over the weekend.

Multiple reports claim Fury’s trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder will not happen now. And that the Morecambe man is likely to find another opponent for his December outing.

His co-promoter Bob Arum claims that means the only things standing in the way of the all-British showdown are a Fury loss in Dcember or a Joshua loss to Kubrat Pulev in his December title defence. Either would a a huge upset.

Arum mooted the potential for a first Fury vs Joshua fight to happen in April or May 2021. Obviously that must come with the caveat that who knows whether COVID-19 will subside enough for it to happen even then?

WBO mandatory contender Oleksandr Usyk may also have something to say about that scheduling. He fights Dereck Chisora on October 31.

And the Ukrainian is supposed to get a title shot against Joshua next should he prevail.