By Barry Holbrook: Anthony Joshua shouldn’t fight Tyson Fury, says Gareth A Davies, because it would be “unwise” for him to do so given the state of his career after his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury’s deadline yesterday has come and gone, and given his silence about it; he indicates that Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) and his promoter Eddie Hearn have decided to reject his offer.
Any chance he had of making the fight fell apart after Fury chose to use hard bargaining tactics with his Thursday deadline and his decision to reject Joshua’s December 17 request and insist on November 26 or the December 3.
If Fury is smart, he’ll learn from this and make sure he doesn’t employ the same crude negotiating tactics on Joshua in the future. Joshua won’t bow to Fury’s deadlines and change of dates.
“Has no sense. It is a final fight for him to face Fury in December, even if Fury accepts on December 17,” Gareth A Davies told Pro Boxing Fans about Anthony Joshua.
“Has no sense. The [Joshua] he needs to rebuild and go and knock out a couple people, put in a couple of good performances, fight Dillian Whyte and fight Deontay Wilder, maybe.
“The Fury fight will always be there. There is not enough time for him. [Joshua] to prepare. It’s very unwise to take him now because if he lost or got knocked out, it’s very hard to see where he’s going to go from there.
“Where does it really go from there, and does it have new payers on DAZN. He has been offered a multi-fight, multi-year contract. I’m talking business here; I’m speaking from his perspective. If I were his promoter, I’d be saying, ‘Stay away.’
“Why doesn’t Usyk fight Fury in December? Because he’s not ready because he needs time, and Joshua needs time. He needs to rebuild, in my opinion.
“There’s the other side where people say, ‘This is your chance to be a three-weight world champion right away. He doesn’t have to rebuild. It doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid. I think it’s very unwise to take that fight at this point.
“I think there is a one or two percent chance that the fight will take place in the next 24 hours. I can’t see it,” Davies said.
