Tyson Fury has given a very concerning breakdown for Anthony Joshua ahead of his fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
The WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion is set to defend his belts against the former undisputed cruiserweight king on Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the WBC title-holder will be a keen observer.
Joshua recently predicted that Deontay Wilder will knock Fury out when they meet again on October 9, live on talkSPORT.
Fury reacted to BoxingScene: “I really don’t make much of it.
“These guys are my rivals, so I expect them to want to beat me, of course. I’m a one-man army. They all wanna beat me.
“I’m the only undefeated champion left. So it’s like, ‘Oh, gang up on me, and let’s try and get him to lose as well.’
“I think he’s got more on his plate, though, than thinking about what I’m gonna do in my fight.
“He’s got to win his own fight and we’ll see what happens with his fight on Saturday, because I’m not convinced that he is gonna win either.”
Giving his breakdown of the fight, Fury continued: “I expect AJ to come out trying to box a bit more because of this new way he boxes now and uses his jab.
“He knows he doesn’t have the stamina to take a fight to somebody under sustained pressure, and keep that up, because he gasses after about three rounds and then he needs to take three or four rounds off.
“So he wouldn’t be able to do that against Usyk because Usyk will be on him all the time, making him fight.
“So I expect it to be awkward, maybe a bit of a chess match for a few rounds. And I expect AJ to run out of ideas, really.
“If he doesn’t land on him early and get him out of there with big punches, then I see it being a tough night for AJ and maybe even a stoppage loss…
“I think it’s a real pick ‘em fight.
“I can make a lot of reasons why AJ would lose this fight and Usyk would win.
“One is he’s a big southpaw and he’s awkward and a slick boxer.
“I think he punches harder than people give him credit for.
“But it’s not how hard you punch – you’ve just gotta keep hitting that target and, sooner or later, the big bodybuilder will fall apart at the seams, like an old, cheap cushion, falling to bits, all the bits falling off it.
“And he runs out of ideas quite quickly as well, Joshua. He’s a one-trick pony.”
BETTING SPECIAL – GET ANTHONY JOSHUA AT 25/1 TO BEAT OLEKSANDR USYK OR 60-1 TO WIN IN ROUNDS 1-6