Tyson Fury Calls Anthony Joshua Showdown the Pride of Britain Fight
Tyson Fury tells Ring Magazine he expects an early finish against Anthony Joshua in their long-awaited heavyweight rivalry fight.
Tyson Fury is not just selling a fight. He is selling a reckoning.
In a sit-down interview with Ring Magazine, Fury framed his upcoming showdown with Anthony Joshua as something bigger than a boxing match. After a decade of near-misses and competing career paths, Fury says the two British heavyweights are finally going to settle it.
"It's been a big rivalry for the last 10 years and both guys have wanted to win it badly," Fury said. He added that the fight "seems a little more special than the rest for the reason being it's the pride of Britain fight."
Fury made clear he expects a short night. "I think it ends early, yeah," he said, predicting a finish in the first half of the bout. He took aim at Joshua's conditioning, arguing that the former unified champion's muscular build works against him over distance. "He doesn't have the engine or the gas tank that I have," Fury said. "If he fights with me for one minute, he'll take two rounds off."
The fight is expected to take place in Cardiff in front of roughly 80,000 fans. Fury has been characteristically confident about the setting. "Batter this bum up and down at Cardiff in front of 80,000," he said.
Fury also touched on his desire for a trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk, saying he believes he won both of their previous fights. "For whatever reason he's been given a decision over me," Fury said, floating a potential rematch at Madison Square Garden to "get the revenge on The Rabbit, finally."
The Fury vs. Joshua mega-fight comes at what both men acknowledge is the tail end of their careers. "It's at the end of our sort of careers," Fury admitted. That reality only adds to the stakes of a fight that British boxing fans have been waiting on for the better part of a decade.
I have lived in Vegas long enough to know when a fight is actually special and when it is just being marketed that way. Fury vs. Joshua is actually special. These two have been circling each other since the mid-2010s, and every time it looked close, something fell apart. Now they are both on the wrong side of their primes, and that somehow makes it better.
Fury calling for an early finish is classic Fury. He says that about everyone. But the stamina point is interesting. Joshua has historically faded in the later rounds against elite opposition, and if Fury can make him work early and often, that gas tank becomes a real issue.
I would not count Joshua out, though. The man carries genuine one-punch power that can end any fight at any moment. Fury has been hurt before. Cardiff at 80,000 is going to be electric. This is the kind of fight that does not need a belt to mean everything.
