By Tim Parsons-
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has vowed to expose how fake IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO champion Anthony Joshua.
The two fighters are expected to meet in the ring this year, with the contest expected to take place in Saudi Arabia.
Fury told Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn :”I will cut Anthony Joshua down like a hot knife through cheese. That’s how easy it’s going to be,” Fury said to Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, on the No Passion No Point podcast on BBC.
Fury has been out of the ring since February 2020, when he masterfully stopped] Deontay Wilder to capture the WBC title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It will be about 18 months since he last fought when he finally meets Joshua, who would have been out of the ring for just 7 months when the pair finally touch gloves.
Fury and Hearn came together in Arlington, Texas. where the gypsy king is in town to support Billy Joe Saunders in his super middleweight unification against Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium.#]
“Your boy, you built him up from scratch,” Fury warned Hearn during the podcast. “You’ve done a fantastic job by the way. You took an amateur boxer and made him into the finished article. It’s a shame he has to be in the same era as the ‘Gypsy King’. When he gets cracked right in the jaw, it’s like a boiled egg with a split down the middle, it can’t be repaired. He will go.”
“I’ll even tell you what punch it is going to be – it’ll be a check left hook to the temple, his legs will go and he will fall on his face. He may get back up and I’ll knock him out with a straight right.”
Fury explained that Joshua is not a real fighter – that’s he’s more of a businessman – which he feels will lead to the Olympian’s downfall in the ring.
“I can’t wait to get the big dosser in the ring and give him a good hiding to prove to the world what a fake he is. AJ couldn’t lace my boots. He doesn’t have the minerals to fight me. He’s a great champion.
The real difference is he’s a businessman and I am a spartan. We’ve all got a few quid, what does it matter? We’re all bare bums in the shower at the end of the day,” Fury said.
“You can have all the money in the world, what can you take with you? Nothing. Everything on this world will stay here but do you know what, they’ll be talking about me in 1,000 years – the Gypsy King from England.”
Anthony Joshua described s fake by Tyson Fury Image: Facebook.com
Fury’s words are poignant in as far as the higher importance of legacy in heavyweight boxing than financial remunerations. The amount of money the looser earn from this fight will be of no major impact compared with the glory of the winner and its lasting effects in the history books.
In an ideal world both fighters would have an interim fight to shake off any rust from the time away from the ring. The delay in finalising all the relevant signatures for the fight may have been a blessing in disguise if the fight fell through, and the pair had another fight first.
Fury in particular is at risk of being exposed in a big fight of this magnitude because 18 months out of the ring can be a big deal at this level of heavyweight boxing. He will be banking on the sparring sessions used to prepare him for this fight but it may not be enough.
On the other hand, Fury may be less affected by the rust than Anthony Joshua who did not show a lot of work rate or confidence in his last fight against Kubrat Pulev last December when stopping the Bulgarian in 7 rounds. The Londoner did not show a lot of confidence in that fight, but his technical skills and power saw him through.
Jumping straight into the Fury fight may not have been as good an idea as having another fight in which he demonstrated more work rate. Experience in boxing includes what happened in the last fight.
Joshua and Fury could both do with at least one more fight before meeting for this big unification clash, but the big money involved for this fight has at the end of the day been the deciding factor in making it happen at this stage.