Tyson Fury wasn’t impressed with what he witnessed from Anthony Joshua’s two-round destruction of Francis Ngannou last Friday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs), who holds the WBC heavyweight title, still feels he’s above Joshua, making it known that he thinks he’s better than him.
Of course, none of this will matter if Fury can’t beat IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk in their undisputed contest on May 18th.
If Fury loses that fight, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh would have to decide whether he still wants to go ahead with his idea of paying them a load of dough to get the two Brits in the ring for bragging rights for who is the best fighter in the UK, but not the world.
“Made to Measure” for Fury
“I’m still dismissive of him. AJ’s made to measure for me,'” said Fury to talkSPORT Boxing. “AJ’s made to measure for me. Just because he knocked out Francis Ngannou – it’s not the same. He couldn’t land any of those rights on Usyk, a way smaller and lighter man. Styles make fights and his style is made for me.”
The 6’9″ Fury believes that his slick fighting style would make it difficult for Joshua to land his bombs, and he would box his way to a victory over again the same way that Usyk twice defeated AJ in the past.
Those two wins by Usyk are the reason why promoter Eddie Hearn has retreated from matching Joshua against elite-level fighters and has fed him these four softer, lower-tiered heavyweights:
– Francis Ngannou
– Otto Wallin
– Robert Helenius
– Jermaine Franklin
Joshua’s resurrection by Hearn has clearly worked. The boxing public is sold on him, believing he’s back to his top form when he first turned pro out of the 2012 Olympics. Hearn has done a man’s job of re-creating the AJ mystique of being the killer that he once was over a decade ago.
What fans are missing out on is the opposition that Joshua has been facing. It’s easy to look good against these types of guys unless your name is Fury, but it’s a different story trying to do the same thing against the best, Oleksandr Usyk, the true King of the heavyweight division.
Potential Joshua Clash Still Possible
“I’ve got to beat him twice, and then after that, if they’re still available, then I’ll fight Joshua,” said Fury to iFL TV YouTube channel. “I never thought it would ever happen. It’s getting closer and closer, but with Turki Alalshikh, anything is possible, isn’t it? He’s the magic man, isn’t he?” said Fury.
