By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew thinks Anthony Joshua could stop Tyson Fury early when they clash for the unified heavyweight title. Bellew told the Gary Newbon Sports Show, “I think he would jump on Tyson Fury and I think he would catch him pretty quickly. But don’t get me wrong, if that fight was to go past four or five rounds, I think Anthony Joshua would find himself in an awful lot of trouble.
“He has to get rid of someone like Tyson Fury and solve that puzzle and enigma that is Tyson Fury quickly because the more fights go on against him the harder it becomes.”
Wilder should rush in and hammer Fury. It’s his best path and he could get it done and improves his odds. Fury needs to be pressured and overwhelmed. With his size and skill, it’s probably the best approach to jump on him. Joshua would get stopped late so going after him early makes sense.
Chris, you make a valid point. Wilder needs to control from the get-go and be the man in charge. If Wilder allows Fury to get in a groove with his fight plan, destruction will easily follow once again. Wilder relied way too heavy on his right hand and forgot about using other fundamentals to set up the powerful right crosses. Easy to do? Sure, when you blow over enough guys and make money putting them to sleep, why not do what is easy to do, right? Boxing allows powerful one-handed punchers just like they do all other styles. Wilder is still dangerous regardless what some folks think. Wilder has made $millions of dollars cracking people with right crosses so power does exist even if the opponents were mediocre or highly regarded in skill-set. However, Wilder needs to reset his skill-set to some degree and fight like he has a better rounded purpose this time. I can honestly say Wilder he brought me more entertainment to watch in boxing than Fury. How? Who does not like to watch KOs instead of swinging, prancing around, and hugging? Yes, Fury, KO’d Wilder, but Fury is more of a boxer than a KO artist per capita.
Wilder is finished as a champion. Wilder is not going to be able to shift gears like AJ did against Ruiz in the rematch. Tyson will bully him around and keep Wilder’s spindly legs from getting set. AJ OTOH is just massive rock so he will not be tossed around the ring. Fury may have to do a lot of holding and elbowing to survive the early rounds with AJ. The power of AJ is negated by his weaker chin.
I don’t necessarily agree that AJ has the weaker chin. He survived Klitschko and Whyte’s bombs. Yes, was dropped by Klitschko and was stunned by Whyte, but was hit in the temple by Ruiz and that threw off his equilibrium. He couldn’t recover. He played it smart in the rematch. Fury/Joshua is a toss up IMO
David, spot on!!
Some good points, at least you’re not a biased fan like some others.
I think Joshua will get Deontay’d, and not only get beaten up, he too will have his neck licked.
Talk is talk, but reality is another story. First things first; Fury vs. Wilder Part 3 this year. One can hope Fury keeps his head on straight, does not get injured, and wins against Wilder. Wilder still dangerous with that right hand regardless of what everyone thinks. On the other hand, Joshua is in the same boat with potential injuries (recovering from a knee injury now), possible [gifted] match up against Usyk, and a defeat upsets the apple cart. After both fighters get thru all that, then we can talk reality. Till then, we all can dream and talk up our arm chair warrior egos.
Well one thing is for sure, we all know for certain that Joshua can be stopped.
Fury vs Joshua would be great even though they both lost their comming fights.
Bellew has a point but the big question is how do you “catch him pretty quickly”.
I think Joshua has similar strengths and weaknesses as Klitschko. He is a physical phenomenon, strong, hits with power and is a killer, but he is also rather slow, static, predictable and lacking footwork. On top of that I doubt Joshuas confidence has recovered after his defeat.
If Fury is both mentally and physically fit and do not take the victory over Joshua for granted he will be extremely difficult to manage. Boxing is boxing and a lucky shot might be Joshuas greatest chance.
Tyson fury vitali klitschko wlad klitschko lennox lewis rocky marciano my top 5 all time in no particular order because any one on there best night could beat any other of the 4.
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion of course, but I couldn’t help but notice that 4 of your top 5 GOAT Heavyweights are white. No Ali? No Louis? No Holmes? Why would you have Tyson Fury there at this point?
Well Jello has his opinion. Personally I would not even consider neither Louis nor Marciano in my GOAT 5.
Tyson Fury is spectacular in many ways but I think he will have problems with boxers like Ruiz Jr and Whyte. He would have had problems with both Tyson and Tua. Still I think he seriously would have challenged both Holmes and Ali.
I see Tyson Fury as the only future candidate today to be a GOAT but he has more to prove.
Louis and Marciano not on your list? Damn, them are 2 bad asses
Not bad enough 🙂 ….Marciano would be far too small, even in the Cruiserweight. Louis would do better I guess but not up to my top 5 GOAT.
Sorry but Marciano was just fighting in the weakest era of HW , he’s the most overrated HW champ ever..
Of course you had to bring race into it If all his top 5 picks were black (ohh sorry, is that still politicaly correct? ) I bet you wouldn’t ask that same question. Would you?
Ali is not in my rankings. He would be destroyed by these 5 and 6 thru 9 which is gene tunney dempsey jack johnson riddick bowe in top form and would be koed by even james toney like he koed evander holyfield. . Ali is not in my rankings.
wow! this is so far delusional. Tunney? Dempsey? They both would lose to a long list of heavyweights. They fought at a time that didnt count because they didnt allow opportunities for minority fighters.
What no Cinderella man? He was white and might of beat all 5 of your guys
This is the super fight once Fury gets rid of bum squad once and for all.
Usyk will beat them all. Trust that and I would even go far as to say he would do it via tko. Unsure if he could handle fury though because he’s just a talented, long, awkward boxer who has power when he chooses. So many exciting fights! What a win we are all in
Yes, many exciting fights we “could” see but won’t. Or if we do it will be way past when it should have happened. Promoters ruined this once great sport.
Usyk is still so untested at heavyweight it won’t surprise me anyway his fights go. If he gets bullied by the bigger heavies I won’t surprised. If he outboxes, is too quick (but then he will have his running shoes on) for the heavies I won’t be surprised. Still so untested. Interesting.
The Gypsy King is gonna blast both Wilder and Joshua. He is the greatest heavyweight of our time. Maybe not the biggest puncher, but boxing is much more than just being a puncher. He is by far the most talented heavyweight in the game. Wilder is an overrated one trick pony and Joshua is slow and boring. Tyson Fury will retire undefeated if he stays mentaly stabil and hungry.
Yes, you are right. If Fury stays mentally stable and hungry are the key ingredients to his success.
A few factors. Joshua and Fury don’t have great chins. Fury’s upper-body movement somewhat neutralizes that. Has anyone ever gone for Fury’s body because its soft? AJ has more arsenal than Wilder because he’s more fundamentally sound. Fury may come in at 273 again so will that prompt AJ to pack his muscle back on. If so, will that muscle slow AJ down as it did in the Wlad fight assuming Fury uses his new Kronk style of pressure. AJ’s mistake will be to try and box with a boxing wizard. He’s going to have to bang with him and do it early.
Who will win is whoever ever gets to get his boxing style to be the fight. And the Ref will make a big impact on who gets to fight their fight.
I wont be suprised to see trey lippe morrison clean out the division after fury retires.
How could Joshua beat Fury…??? Joshua got his ass handed to him by an overweight Andy Ruiz… Granted, Joshua redeemed his loss but in that fight he ran and was afraaid to “mix em up” with Ruiz, PLUS Ruiz was severely overweight, Fury has much more power than Ruiz but also in both fights w/ Ruiz, Joshua showed NO power, never had him in trouble but again, ran after throwing a few jabs and combinations…. Don’t blink when this fight happens, Joshua wil be KO’d after the 1st bell rings…
If Ali not on your list then u dont know shit about boxing
Ali missed his prime years from 67-70 and won by a fluke against Foreman. Maybe Ali in the late 60s woulda been GOAT. After Thrilla in Manila he fought on with heart but was a shell of a fighter. Before Ali slow heavyweights who clutched and grabbed would be DQ’s and booed.
BAsed solely on his lackluster performance agaionst Ruiz in both of their fights I just can;t agree with this article… Fury is on a roll and he will destroy anyonenow ESPECIALLY Joshua…
Bellew maybe right, Joshua may have to tag Fury early to win. Fury has the boxing skills and heart, AJ is the more athletic and disciplined fighter. This is a great match up and the fight will be much closer than Furys fight with Wilder, but I am leaning towards Fury.