Former two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua says two things: He has a dream scenario, that of fighting Dillian Whyte, then Deontay Wilder, and then Tyson Fury, with him beating them all. But AJ also says that “dreams are fake.” The reality is, Joshua will fight Whyte next, and very likely Wilder after that (in December, in that much talked of Saudi mega-fight) – but he may never get Fury into the ring with him.
Joshua, speaking with Sky Sports after yesterday’s presser to hype the upcoming, August 12 rematch with Whyte, said “people are starting to see” why the Fury fight didn’t happen. There are indeed a lot of Fury critics who feel it was he, the reigning WBC heavyweight champ, who caused the collapse of the Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk fights, with Fury being deliberately impossible to negotiate with.
Joshua, who told the gathered media during a scrum interview yesterday that “Usyk didn’t duck, Fury did,” isn’t one to lay the boot in and overly criticise another fighter, but his frustrations show through in the new Sky Sports interview.
“I’m not disappointed. That’s just the reality we live in. That’s the reality,” AJ said of the Fury fight failing to happen. “Unfortunately it didn’t happen, but I’m not disappointed because we know why. People are starting to see. This is just how boxing goes sometimes. People are just…..it’s just a shame. But it is what it is, none of my business. If that was me, I would have gone in there and fought, but it’s not me so I can’t really comment on another man’s decisions. Yeah, it would be [a dream scenario to fight Whyte, Wilder, then Fury]. But dreams are fake. This is reality.”
The reality is, Joshua will get Whyte next, and if he wins then Wilder. But will Fury ever agree terms to fight Joshua? Fury has shouted and screamed about what he would do to Joshua if he did fight him, but it’s never gone beyond hot air and boasting. In an ideal world, Joshua, still the biggest star in the heavyweight division, would get to fight Whyte, Wilder and then Fury. We don’t know how the fights would go as far as who would win (might AJ come a cropper at the first hurdle, this in the Whyte fight?), but Joshua does seem to genuinely want to have these fights.
It’s up to you, and it’s down to what you believe. As Joshua says, “people are starting to see.” What do YOU see? When it comes down to the the two men, who really wants the super-fight to happen, Joshua or Fury?