Anthony Joshua is three months away from a third straight loss and the career destruction that comes with a heavyweight career.
Following two losses to Oleksandr Usyk, Eddie Hearn announced that the former world champion would embark on a world tour.
It was the third time in his career that Hearn said this would now happen to Joshua. It’s also the third time the full notion has never happened.
anthony joshua world tour
Joshua should fight Zhilei Zhang in China before potentially facing Efe Ajagba in Nigeria and finish the run with a Middle East trilogy comeback against Andy Ruiz Jr.
All of that is about to unravel, and Joshua’s future in the sport at the highest level could go with it. A harsh but true story.
AJ says he agreed to “all the terms” set out by Tyson for a fight in Cardiff on December 3. If a deal is signed, Joshua will be a massive outsider to defeat the WBC title holder.
Fury may no longer hold the number one spot in the division. However, he is the linear ruler and is the toughest test for any world-rated top division fighter.
That scenario is why the latest developments are so amazing. Joshua is either committing career suicide, cashing in on his tenure in the sport, or delusional to the point where he believes he can beat Fury thanks to two devastating losses.
It’s no secret that Joshua’s confidence is lacking. His mental health has also been called into question after his post-fight tantrum in the Usyk rematch.
fury against joshua
However, it seems that Joshua wants to face Fury next. Whoever made that decision needs some serious training in how racing works.
To get into the biggest fight of his life with everything on the line, Joshua needs to be on a winning run. Or, at least, to have had a raised hand in his last fight.
Facing the wrath of Fury, a man who has waited his entire boxing life to get his hands on an opponent he calls “a stiff bodybuilder,” was always going to be a tough matchup for Joshua.
But doing it now with your determination and spirit shattered can only end badly for Joshua. Joshua only has a small chance to hit for the third battle in a row.
We all know what that was like in the previous two efforts. Joshua only had to read the boxing headlines previews of the Usyk fight to realize that he couldn’t outmaneuver the Ukrainian and had to go for the jugular.
four rounds
Doing the same thing twice in a row shows that Joshua wasn’t ready for Usyk. He’s certainly not ready for Tyson Fury on the back of that.
Joshua probably has four rounds left on his career at the top level if he’s getting paid. Four rounds to put it all on Fury and go for it.
So if the Fury fight happens this winter, he had better make the most of those short twelve minutes.
The views expressed in this article are the views of Phil Jay.
WBN editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. He follows WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
