Anthony Joshua is going into his mega-fight with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury with a lot more ambition and plans for the future.
For IBF/WBA/WBO champion Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs), this is just the beginning of many things he wants to accomplish with his career.
Joshua has been working like a mad man since his victory over Kubrat Pulev last December, and he’s already looking in tip-top shape for his summer fight with Fury. AJ is ready to beat Fury and then move forward to enjoy a long career ahead of him.
Although only one year separates the 31-year-old Joshua and the 32-year-old Fury, AJ has many more things he wants to do in the future.
In contrast, Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) is nearing the end of his career, and it could be over after his two fights with Joshua in 2021, particularly if he loses both of them badly, as some boxing fans are predicting.
Joshua thinks the 32-year-old Fury to fight just once more after their two clashes, wrapping up his 13-year professional career against journeyman Dereck Chisora.
“For him, he said after he fights me, maybe he fights Chisora, then he’s ready to go off into the sunset.
For me, I’ve still got so much more I want to do. I’m looking past him, I want more, this isn’t where it stops,” said Joshua @JDOfficial.
With the potential $100 million paydays both Joshua and Fury are expected to get for their two fights this year, you can’t blame ‘The Gypsy King’ if he does walk away from the sport in 2022.
He’ll have made enough money to sit back and enjoy the rest of his life without the worry of needing to work hard at a job like normal people.
In looking at how Fury has failed to stay in shape during the pandemic, you have to question his dedication to the hard work required to stay at the top of the sport like Joshua.
It’s not that Fury is lazy by any means, but clearly, he’s not someone that is keeping his body trim the way he should year-round the way Joshua has.
“The press conference antics, fight antics, hands behind the back, I love that stuff,” said Joshua in giving Fury credit for his ability to get boxing fans excited about his fights.
‘That’s his job. He’s a warm-up act, he’s there to do all that, but ultimately my job’s to close the show. That’s all that matters,” said Joshua.
After Joshua is through with Fury, we could see him soon facing these fighters:
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Joe Joyce
- Daniel Dubois
- Deontay Wilder
- Andy Ruiz Jr
- Filip Hrgovic
- Dillian Whyte or Alexander Povetkin
- Joseph Parker
- Tony Yoka
With the way Joshua keeps himself fit coupled with his ambition, he can easily continue fighting for another 10 years to become boxing’s first billionaire.
Floyd Mayweather Jr could have become the sport’s first billion-dollar fighter, but he couldn’t stay motivated long enough to keep active.
Joshua is different. You can argue Fury is more like Mayweather in that he’s not going to stick around for the long haul to achieve the way Joshua, and that’s probably he’s going to lose to him. He’s not dedicated enough.