By: Sean Crose
“I don’t think he’s as good as people crack him up to be,” WBC, lineal and The Ring heavyweight champion Tyson claims, “or he doesn’t believe he is, in his own self. He’s got a confidence issue. He’s coming off two shaky performances.” Joshua, who holds the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles, recently claimed that he could take Fury’s head off. Fury, however, doesn’t take his fellow Englishman’s words too seriously. “Boxing is all about who is in form and who isn’t,” he says. “On his last two fights he’s not in form, on mine I am. Momentum is with me and I just believe I take him out early, very early. Maybe even one round, two rounds.”
MTK, who manages Fury, posted the fighter’s quotes online. It’s clear from his words that Fury is still brimming with confidence nearly a year out of his devastating win over Deontay Wilder last winter. “This fight has been brewing for a long time,” he says of a potential throwdown with Joshua. “They have been avoiding me for a long time and now it’s finally got to happen. They either run away from the fight and announce it publicly or take the fight. Either way it’s a lose-lose situation for him.”
For his own part, Joshua appears eager for the fight himself. In truth, both men look to be on a collision course. The heavyweight division, until very recently, looked to have a three way standoff at the top of the mountain. There was Fury, there was Joshua, and there was Deontay Wilder. Fury and Wilder have fought twice. Although their first battle ended in a draw, Fury won the rematch in such one sided fashion, that many see the question of divisional dominance now being down to he and Joshua.
Fury is one of the more outspoken participants in the contemporary fight game. He’s also one of the more colorful. Large, boisterous, and with an undefeated record, the Englishman possesses a boldness that naturally draws attention. His struggles with drugs, alcohol, depression, and weight gain are matters the man has been open about, as is his desire to prove himself better than Joshua in what would largely be an all Britain superfight. Marketing himself as a must see attraction, Fury has largely helped add excitement to the post Klitschko heavyweight division. The hard hitting Joshua, who is at least as popular as Fury in Britain, has generated a large amount of excitement at heavyweight, as well, making their potential fight a much hoped for event.