Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury now looks likely for 2025.
The battle of Britain has eluded fans for many years and is now undoubtedly past its best before date, however it will still be a mega-fight that can fill a stadium.
Why it could happen now is because both men are out of the title picture and looking for big fights before retirement. Joshua lost twice to Oleksandr Usyk before going on a run of four wins to get a shot at Daniel Dubois’ IBF world title. He was knocked out in five. Fury has recently suffered the same fate against Usyk, failing to beat the Ukrainian over 24 rounds.
It is now widely agreed that the match-up is the best out there for both men. How it plays out is anybody’s guess, but there are some shared opponents who can provide good insight.
Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin took Fury the distance back in 2019, inflicting a near-fight ending cut on the Brit before losing on the scorecards. After a run of six victories, he faced Joshua but was stopped inside five rounds.
Speaking to Sun Sport with the experiences of facing both, Wallin gave ‘AJ’ a good chance but said he can’t back against ‘The Gypsy King.’
“I feel like Joshua is a very good fighter, very good power, very good counter puncher. I feel like he definitely has a shot with Fury. And you just never know what Tyson Fury shows up. I still have a hard time going against Tyson in that fight.
“But, the fights if you compare it my fight against Joshua was a lot tougher than the one I had against Fury. That doesn’t mean everything but I give Joshua more of a chance than I did before. But I still would probably pick Fury as the favourite.”
Wallin returns to action against Derek Chisora on February 8 in Manchester.
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