Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua never fought when they were at their peaks. Now both are coming off defeats. A fight between the two British big men nonetheless remains a viable option.
But how big a fight would Fury vs. Joshua be? We asked BoxingScene’s team of writers for their thoughts:
Tris Dixon: Big, but not as big as it could and should have been. Joshua was unified champion when Fury had the WBC strap, but we know how the old story goes. It’s pathetic we couldn’t get something like that done when it mattered most, but it’s nothing new and will continue to happen.
Kieran Mulvaney: About 500 pounds big. Hey-ooo. It’s biggish, particularly if presented as a “loser leaves town” matchup. But this is Usyk’s stage now and all the rest are merely players. And I’ll say this: As good as AJ’s career has been, he has had two preeminent rivals in his time: Wilder and Fury. And he has so far managed to avoid fighting either of them. That will be a knock on his legacy, even if he does eventually face Fury.
Lucas Ketelle: It will be big, but in a unique way. They are both defeated men on failed redemption tours. Joshua looked to rebuild his legacy after losing to Usyk. He won four straight fights, only to be knocked out by Daniel Dubois. Fury looked to redeem himself against Usyk and felt he won, only to not get the nod. Both are coming off failures. Seeing fighters deal with these types of adversities is sometimes more interesting than the fights themselves. So for the average person, maybe it isn’t as big because it is a battle of the second- or third-best guy in the division, but you can make a case it is more interesting than ever, given what both have gone through and have to deal with now.
Matt Christie: Huge. Not as big as it would have been when both were at the peak of their powers, but still a gargantuan event, particularly in the U.K. And though we can rightly identify it’s lost some luster due to the losses they’ve both endured, after a few months of marketeering the anticipation would heighten dramatically. The location is key in boosting appeal, however. Staging it in Saudi Arabia, for example, would be such a waste.
Declan Warrington: Not as big as it once would have been, but still very big. Memories are short; the combination of their two names and the ability of themselves and those around them to market the occasion as The Biggest Fight Ever would mean both of them twice losing to Usyk, and Joshua since being stopped by Dubois, being overlooked. It’s still an appealing fight. But neither are what they were – its appeal peaked at around the time Joshua first, and in many ways admirably, agreed to fight Usyk.
Bernard Neequaye: This fight would have been great if it had happened some years ago because the two fighters in question – Fury and Joshua – are now close to the end of their careers. But I’m in favor of a final fight with Joshua before he decides to bow, which I believe can help revive the boxing rivalry in the U.K. The stakes are high for the fight, but I doubt it will be as big as people perceive it to be, especially now that the fighters are at the twilight of their careers.
Elliot Worsell: It’s still a big fight for the kind of crowd boxing is looking to cultivate these days. However, for the ones who know better, it means very little and instead amounts to a kick in the teeth. This kick will be even more painful if the long-delayed all-British showdown ends up taking place in Saudi Arabia, as is likely. It is at that point you ask yourself, “What is the point?”
Owen Lewis: Probably still enormous. Perhaps because I’m not a Brit, I don’t really understand the continued mourning for this fight. With the heavyweight division producing a clear king and all-time-great in Usyk, why is it so disappointing that the number two and number three guys never fought, besides the loss of a huge event? The desire for the fight, to me, seems more out of a thirst for the potential spectacle than a real curiosity to see who is better – which is Fury. That makes this fight irrelevant to the heavyweight crown, but also means it shouldn’t be much smaller because both men have losses now. If the combatants truly want the fight, with both now in possession of multiple losses and essentially locked into their respective rankings in this generation of heavyweights, there’s no reason for it not to happen.
Jason Langendorf: Big? It’ll be presented as such, and that’s fine. But each has lost to the current heavyweight champion twice within roughly the past three years. Unless the matchup were building toward something bigger – and it wouldn’t be – it’s essentially a consolation prize that will go to the best Usyk victim. Far worse fights have been built on far lesser premises, but Fury-AJ is essentially a regional version of Floyd Mayweather Jnr-Manny Pacquiao. To paraphrase a far slicker wordsmith: “Boxing is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and AJ and Fury, signifying nothing.”
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