Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua has received strong verbal backing from former title holder in the same division, David Haye, who believes ‘AJ’ is strong enough to defeat fellow-Brit, Tyson Fury.
In the wake of confirmation of another agreement reached between the camps of both British heavyweights, Haye, who himself ruled the division some years back, is of a view that Joshua is better in terms of physical attributes and strength to overcome ‘The Gypsy King’ when they eventually tango for the undisputed world title.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, while stressing that ‘the skill boxer does not always win,’ Haye posited that Joshua will defeat Fury because the three belt holder is more physically endowed and athletically gifted.
Joshua, who holds the IBF, WBA and WBO belts, is set to battle WBC title-holder Fury on terms of an ‘approved site offer’ for the undisputed heavyweight fight to crown the division’s No 1 fighter.
Haye told Sky Sports: “Joshua will win the fight. His loss against Andy Ruiz Jr taught him a valuable lesson about complacency and believing your own hype.
“I think Fury is flying so high after his victory in Las Vegas [over Deontay Wilder] and believes he is unbeatable. For good reason – if I were him, I’d think so too.
“Joshua has tasted defeat and will have a different mindset. He is so athletically gifted, an Olympic gold medallist who has had so many world title fights, he is newer to the game and is still learning.
“I think that Fury believes he is the finished article. Whereas Joshua doesn’t – he is learning. Fury has been celebrating for a long time.
“This isn’t a bodybuilding competition but I like the mindset and discipline of Joshua. In the long term of a physical game like boxing, the dedication and nutrition of Joshua [will come out on top].
“He is an underdog but I like the underdog. Joshua is physically superior. If they did any sport outside of boxing, Joshua would win. A boxing match is skill-based and people believe Fury’s skills supersede Joshua’s.
“But the skilled boxer doesn’t always win. The boxer with speed, endurance, will to win, strategy, who has trained correctly? There a million elements that go into winning a boxing match but people ignore everything except skills.”
