By Shaun Murphy-
Frank Warren still hopes to see Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua meet in the ring, despite Joshua losing his titles, arguing that the British public would still “buy into” the occasion.
Joshua was roundly beaten by former cruiserweight champion, Olegsandr Usyk in Tottenham at the end of September, and was nearly stopped in the last round. The Londoner has activated his rematch clause, expected to take place in February 2022.
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Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury were scheduled to earn a huge £54m each for a unification heavyweight title, and it seems all sides in the equation desperately want to revive the big cash to be made.
Fury is set to face Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on Saturday as they conclude a contentious trilogy, and while the ‘Gypsy King’ is seen as favourite, he will be well aware of what could happen if he fails to hit top form after seeing Joshua come up short.
Warren, who co-promotes Fury,believes Joshua’s loss will not affect the British public’s interest in the fight.
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“I do believe the public buys into that fight even if AJ isn’t champion,” Warren told BBC Sport.
“AJ’s said a lot of things since the fight [and] a lot of nonsense from ‘doctor’ [Joshua’s promoter, Eddie] Hearn about his eye. You got beat by the better man on the night and Joshua said that, to his credit.
“Joshua is a big fight. They keep talking about him still learning. He’s 32 years old. He’s an Olympic champion and world champion.
“Of course, you can still learn every day, but at that level, at 32 years of age, with the experience you’ve got and the amount of professional fights you’ve got, if you’re not absolutely world class at that level, then you’re never going to be.
“But having said that, if he did fight Tyson he would have a lot to prove and I do think the public would buy into it.”
“There’s no Americans out there for him to fight. I think he’ll be back here which will be a great homecoming,” he continued.
“If Tyson wins the fight, we’ll sit down. There’s a few options there. Usyk would be a massive fight here. The Joshua fight is still a massive fight.
“Dillian Whyte is a big fight, providing he beats Otto Wallin, which isn’t a foregone conclusion. There’s some big fights for him.”
Championship Fight
Fury defends his Wbc belt against Deontey Wilder this Saturday in a potentially dangerous fight, after being forced by an adjudicator to grant the American a rematch as agreed in their contract.
In the event of another victory for the gypsy king, Warren is hoping to open talks for Joshua to brush aside the rematch and face Fury instead.
However, Joshua’s confidence is already damaged, and going into a fight with Fury(assuming he beats Wilder as expected by Fury’s team) will be seen as a money spinner, not a legitimate contest for Fury’s WBC belt.
Confident Fury is too good for Joshua now Image:skysports.com
It is not common practice for a world title challenger to go into a big championship fight, coming straight off a loss, like Joshua has.
Joshua was unimpressive in allowing Usyk- an inexperienced man at heavyweight- but highly accomplished at cruiserweight and in the amateur ranks, school him the way Usyk convincingly did.
His fans will expect him to return and exact revenge against Usyk to restore some credibility, instead of going for a big pay day against Fury, which nobody will give him a chance of victory. Joshua was once Britain’s most popular
boxer during t
Joshua wants big Fury fight but needs to take care of small Usyk first
That status has now been taken over by Tyson Fury, after his impressive performances against Deontey Wilder, and the fact Fury always delivers on his promise for victory.
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