What many expected might finally happen. Anthony Joshua challenged Tyson Fury, and caused an earthquake among the boxing fans. The 31-year old Brit stated yesterday that if Fury believes in his supremacy, he should put his belt on the table and accept to fight.
“If you really want to say you’re No 1, come fight me. Let’s get it on. I’ve got the rest of the belts, so it only makes sense,” said Joshua, and openly called out Fury.
The Gypsy King recently encountered Deontay Wilder, and trashed the American boxer, inflicting him the first career loss. Not only did he knocked out the Bronze Bomber, but he displayed a dominating performance and fully deserved to win the WBC title.
There were talks about a possible rematch between the two, but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed everything. However, after this call form Joshua, the plans for Fury might change. AJ tried to explain why he wants to meet his compatriot in the ring.
“I’m the unified heavyweight champion of the world, he’s the WBC champion. What it will prove, me and him fighting? There will be one dominant figure in the heavyweight division that will have all of the belts and become undisputed,” he concluded.
The rivalry between these two guys goes way back, even before Fury paused his career because of multiple issues. After he got back in the ring, he was constantly calling out Joshua, who, on the other side, didn’t respond to any of those offers. It is a widespread opinion that AJ tried to avoid both Fury and Wilder for a long time, which is why the latter two decided to organize a fight between themselves.
Nobody knows the exact reason for his tactics, but a few experts share the opinion that he has many flaws and was buying time in order to improve. They use the first fight against Andy Ruiz Jr., as the proof, claiming, among other things, that Joshua isn’t mentally ready to fight outside the UK.
AJ has a scheduled fight against Kubrat Pulev at the moment. The Bulgarian is the IBF mandatory challenger and was waiting for his opportunity to meet the Brit for a long time. The bout between the two was scheduled for June 22, but was postponed in the meantime because of the pandemic. Even though some see this match as an obstacle for Joshua vs. Fury spectacle, things aren’t that complicated.
Fury and Pulev have the same promoter, and it wouldn’t be odd to see some kind of a deal between them, which would allow Gypsy King to have the opportunity to fight Joshua first. Of course, Pulev needs to be compensated. There are speculations that he and Wilder might meet in a title eliminator, and whoever wins that bout would have the opportunity to challenge the better from Joshua vs. Fury match.
These are all just projections for the moment. However, one thing is pretty sure – Fury won’t stay silent for this one. We can expect to hear from the reigning WBC champion pretty soon, which is what the fans around the world anxiously await.
