By Charles Brun: Eddie Hearn is confident that Anthony Joshua will hand Tyson Fury his first loss when they fight on December 3.
Joshua has the offensive weapons and style to bring Fury back down to earth. For every fighter, there is someone who is the equivalent of Kryptonite to them.
It doesn’t matter how good they are. There is always someone who is a nightmare for them, and Joshua could be that person for Fury. It doesn’t take a genius to see where Fury is vulnerable.
When you watch Fury fights, he can get punched right in the middle. The shots that Fury throws are the variety of loops thrown by fighters like Deontay Wilder.
Fury has shown the ability to avoid looping hits because they take a long time to reach the target due to their size. If Joshua goes straight into the middle with his headshots and attacks Fury’s flabby midsection, he has the power to take him down. Let’s be clear.
Fury is NOT a talent like Oleksandr Usyk, and is much easier to hit due to his sheer size. When you’re as big as Fury, it’s hard to avoid punches when they’re thrown down the middle, unless it’s something thrown by a slow ham-and-egg type of fighter.
Although Hearn openly admits that he wished Joshua (24-3, 22 KO) had taken a couple more fights, he wasn’t about to try to get in his way when he decided he wanted to fight Fury.
According to Hearn, there were concerns that Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) might retire after facing unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship next year.
“I thought I would beat Usyk. I always think AJ is going to win. I always support him, and I cover him, and I think he is an outstanding heavyweight,” Eddie Hearn told Matchroom Boxing.
“He lost to #1 pound for pound. I have always believed that he can beat Tyson Fury,” Hearn continued. “But listen, I’ve written off Tyson Fury before, and he’s proven me wrong.
“Like I said, I didn’t expect the next fight to be Tyson Fury, but AJ is the boss, he’s the guy who calls the shots and said, ‘I may never get the chance again.’ He fights Usyk and retreats. So if he’s here, I agree.
“I would have liked to have traded a little more, but for AJ, it wasn’t really about that. ‘If this is real.’ This is one where I don’t think we’re going to go backwards and forwards.
“There is nothing to tell him other than that we have accepted the terms, and we are waiting for the contracts and fingers crossed. We will work quietly and see if we can do it,” Hearn said.
