THE HEAVYWEIGHT WAIT, WAIT, WAIT IS OVER
Bunce’s Boxing Hour via BBC London days later. “He’s rushed out at me and threw a one-two and a left hook, and I slipped. I thought, ‘He’s not that good; I’m going to take my time.’ Then, bash! He gives me a big uppercut right on the point of the chin. He is one prospect for the future.” Fury has made worse predictions. “AJ” would go on to become a two-time unified heavyweight titleholder and has posted wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin and Andy Ruiz, among others. Fury, who dethroned Klitschko to begin his first heavyweight championship reign, battered American power-puncher Deontay Wilder to begin his second and emerged victorious in a brutal trilogy. Despite everything they’ve accomplished individually, getting Fury and Joshua to share a prize ring became boxing’s equivalent of Game of Thrones for promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn. The all-British superfight has been teased several times over the past decade, with money, ego, promoter rivalry, venue choice and network allegiance proving to be insurmountable obstacles. Finally, thanks to the financial leverage of Turki Alalshikh, all the warring factions have broken bread and Fury vs. Joshua is on. We have a date, a location, a broadcaster, and all the pieces have fallen into place. On December 11, 2026, the biggest fight in British boxing history will take place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The event will be broadcast live and exclusively by Netflix. One day after the launch press conference, The Ring caught up with one half of this colossal matchup: THE RING: Tyson, you know your heavyweight history. If I mention Muhammad Ali in his mid-20s and Muhammad Ali in his mid-30s, you know the difference between those fighters. Explain to me the difference between Tyson Fury at 27, when he beat Wladimir Klitschko, and Tyson Fury at 38.
TYSON FURY: The difference between those guys is that a 27-year-old Tyson Fury was in the prime of his life. Practically unbeatable. I don’t believe anyone could have lived with me back then. I was dancing around for 12 rounds, throwing hundreds of punches, dodging and weaving. It was very, very, very youthful. Very energetic. The difference in Tyson Fury today is that he’s got more experience. He’s been through more. He understands more. I’ve been down, been hurt, been nearly knocked out, had a couple of losses, had a draw, been around the
world and back again. So I have a lot more experience, and I’m a lot more of a veteran than I was back then. But, being honest with you, I don’t feel as if there’s anything I couldn’t do today that I was doing back then. RING: Do you think you could still do it fleet-footed against a top-class opponent for 12 rounds? TF: Yeah, I could do that if I got my weight down again and was using ineffective jabbing and doing no damage. These days, I’m heavier and landing more bombs. I’m doing more
damage than I’ve ever done. Years ago, I used to outpoint opponents, and they quit on me a lot. Rather than me knocking them out or stopping them, they just couldn’t hit me, but I wasn’t doing much damage. It was like an annoying wasp stinging you all over the place. Now I hit them and they go to pieces. I use my size and weight better now. RING: How has Anthony Joshua changed over the past decade? TF: Even with all these new trainers, I don’t think he’s changed much, to be
fair. I just think that when he stepped up and fought some decent opponents, he was getting caught more and knocked down more. With heavyweight boxing, if you’re there to be hit, you’re going to get hurt. You’ll go over. I don’t care who you are; if you get hit properly, you go down. There’s a lot of talk about Joshua’s chin. He’s been knocked down 11 times. Well, I’ve been knocked down nine times. I’ve been involved in 40 professional fights against the biggest men on Earth, so I’m going to get caught. I’ve been in this nearly two
decades. It’s heavyweight boxing and anything can happen. With Joshua, I don’t see a decline. I looked at him yesterday [at the launch press conference]. He had no shirt on and was getting out of the van. He’s fucking jacked out of his mind. I look at myself and think, “Wow. I’m a blancmange [pudding].” But we’ve seen me look out of shape before and do 12 rounds on my head. Physiques don’t mean nothing. At any time of his career, if he would have got caught by any big punches early, he’d have gone down. Even in that great fight he had with Klitschko, he got detonated on. Bang! Down he went in a heap on the floor. It’s always been the same when you mess with the big boys in the division. He looks in good shape, though. He looks in a good place. I’m looking forward to the fight. RING: You’ve fought outdoors in December against Derek Chisora. Is there more danger of being caught cold ... literally? How different does it feel physically when you’re out there? TF: Well, it’s not really outdoors, because the roof will be on. RING: I know, but I was there for Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler back in November 2007, and even though the roof comes over and protects you from the rain, it’s still freezing. TF: Yeah, but they’re going to put the heating on this time. Don’t forget, Turki Alalshikh is involved. RING: Are you serious? There will be heating at the stadium? TF: One hundred percent, they’re going to bang the heating on. (Principality Stadium does have undersoil heating on the soccer field, but the main stands have no heating facility.) RING: OK, a victory over AJ makes you a three-time heavyweight champion. Is a third Ring championship to equal Muhammad Ali still a goal of yours? TF: Yes, if I win this fight, I’ll be a three-
Fury marked time with a seventh- round stoppage of Mariusz Wach.
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