Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua is still the biggest fight out there for British boxing – by a country mile.
The two behemoths of the sport – both two-time world heavyweight champions – are currently out of action. Joshua is recovering from elbow surgery while Fury (for now at the very least) is happily retired.
Most experts believe though that they will still return to meet in centre ring in what would be the biggest fight British boxing has seen in the 21st Century. A showdown which could sell out London’s iconic Wembley Stadium five times over.
Neither man now holds a world heavyweight title – both are on the outside looking in as Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois prepare to face off at Wembley on July 19 for all of the marbles in boxing’s marquee weight class.
Fury vs Joshua, as well as still holding plenty of fan and commercial appeal, is also a very close fight if you believe the oddsmakers. Fury currently rates as an 8/15 favourite, with AJ the 2/1 underdog. But not everybody believes it would be as competitive as that.
British former super-middleweight world champion and now boxing Hall of Famer Carl Froch is convinced the big blockbuster would be an easy night’s work for Fury. A heavyweight cakewalk with an estimated £100m purse to show for it.
‘The Cobra’ admits Joshua was way more impressive than Fury in their matchups with former MMA star Francis Ngannou – Fury laboured to a points win while AJ blasted Ngannou out inside two rounds.
But he believes current heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk – a genuine great of the sport – is a far more accurate yardstick when comparing what the two big British stars have left.
Froch on Usyk comparison
Speaking on his Froch On Fighting YouTube channel, he said: “But when it became real, and they have to fight somebody like Oleksandr Usyk – let’s compare that. Let’s compare that form. Tyson Fury’s done 24 rounds with Usyk, so has AJ. Tyson Fury’s probably won between arguably 6 or maybe even 10 of them 24 rounds, and he was in the fight.
“First fight he got destroyed in Round 9, nearly got battered – he got battered, nearly got stopped. The ropes kept him up, he got the standing 8 count. That was a bad moment for him in round 9 of the first fight. But in the rematch, Fury got it right, put it right, and had a better performance. But still not good enough to beat the El Supremo Usyk.
“So Fury’s form against Usyk was so much better than AJ’s. AJ was in the fight, but there’s an argument that he could’ve got stopped. He got absolutely battered in the first fight. In the second fight, he got it a little bit better, boxed a little bit, kept out of the way, but out of the 24 rounds that AJ fought Usyk, struggled to give him 3, maybe 4 rounds. And that’s not me being mean, that’s just me being honest.
“So, Fury’s form against Usyk was far better than AJ’s form against Usyk. And look at the last part, Anthony Joshua, f***ing flattened against Daniel Dubois. Flattened bad. That soul-destroying loss. We’ve seen what [Andy] Ruiz did to him, and how he wasn’t the same since then. He’s had back-to-back defeats with Usyk, and then he’s got done bad – chinned El Sparko – wiped out against, against Daniel Dubois.”
Dubois loss ‘a career-ending performance’
It is that loss to Dubois – a devastating fifth-round KO after being down in four of the five rounds – which leads Froch to believe the 35-year-old Joshua could not live with Fury right now. He describes it as a “career-ending performance”.
“The way he performed against Usyk, and then got flattened by Dubois, I just think that AJ is a disaster waiting to happen. It’s just, for me, it’s an easy win for Fury. And I don’t care who wins out of these two. I’ve got no favourite in this fight – just being honest. Tyson Fury is in better form. Yes, he had a stinker against Ngannou, but them two fights with Usyk show me that he’s still got it, and he’s still good enough, and still capable.”
