Boxing
Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury could be ruined again
Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury shouldn’t need another lesson from boxing’s recent past, but the same warning signs are already showing up again.
Eddie Hearn told reporters, including World Boxing News, that Anthony Joshua could fight in July and then attack Tyson Fury in November, rather than going straight to the type of immediate fight that many fans would prefer.
On the surface, the idea is understandable. Joshua hasn’t had much time in the ring since he went just a few rounds with Jake Paul in December, and what followed behind the ropes was unimaginable personal heartbreak when he lost two close friends in a car crash in Nigeria.
The comeback against Fury is quite simple to understand.
What’s harder to justify is why boxing drifts toward the same unnecessary risks whenever a major event is waiting to happen.
Joshua can take absolutely zero risks. He learned this the strenuous way in his match against Daniel Dubois, when he was one step away from another world title fight, and this reality should come up in every conversation.
If the plan is to keep the pot tight with one more run before Fury, your opponent needs to be as close to a guaranteed win as matchmaking can get.
Everything else begins to resemble the kind of thinking that has already ruined one blockbuster and helped turn another into a cautionary tale.
Boxing keeps finding up-to-date ways to ruin the easiest fights.
The history of the warm-up
WBN has covered this issue from every angle because it keeps coming back. When it came to Garcia vs. Haney 2 and Wilder vs. Joshua in the warm-up limbo, it was quite elementary: ready-made, great fights do not require additional obstacles to be placed in front of them.
Sport continues to act as if waiting times need to be extended, when in fact all it is doing is opening the door to disaster.
The same warning applied when the Fury-Joshua idea came up again, and the plan was rightly described as the unfathomable Groundhog Day of Reckoning.
Boxing had already experienced the consequences of this plan once and still seemed willing to undo it as if he had learned nothing.
The Day of Reckoning strategy was to secure a fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder after both men had separate fights on the same card. Instead, Wilder lost to Joseph Parker, Joshua defeated Otto Wallin, and the fight everyone had been waiting for for years disappeared in one evening.
It wasn’t bad luck. This was a direct result of warming up for a sedate fight that should have taken place immediately.
Even when Wilder’s subsequent plans carried similar Day of Reckoning risks, the same conclusion remained obvious. An earlier fight is only legitimate if it is truly strategic, tightly controlled and built around preserving the main event rather than gambling.
If Hearn and Joshua’s entourage think he really needs one more performance ahead of Fury, then fine. At least there’s a reason for it, given his confined activities and everything else he’s been up to since December.
But if that’s the case, it can’t be sold as routine. It must be true.
Joshua doesn’t need a test. He doesn’t need a risky name to get off the ground, and he certainly doesn’t need a fight with enough intrigue to fail.
He needs what Deontay Wilder could never provide himself when Turki Alalshikh’s crazy plan for the Joshua vs. Wilder in 2023 required both men to go through danger before earning the mega-bucks.
The Wilder side of the equation turned out to be against Parker and the whole thing went south.
Just do Fury
That’s why the alternative still seems the simplest and smartest of all: let Tyson Fury be the test.
Fury is now thirty-seven years elderly and did not look his best in his last match against Arslanbek Makhmudov. If Joshua wants the right challenge, one with the most reward and the least wasted movement, Fury is staring him in the face.
There is another obvious issue that should not be ignored. Whatever happens in the first Joshua-Fury fight, a rematch is all but guaranteed, meaning Joshua will remain vigorous either way.
This alone makes the case for a separate warm-up even thinner.
And herein lies the frustration of anyone who has watched boxing repeat this cycle over the years.
Fans aren’t asking you to build an impossible fight from scratch. They are asking for one of the easiest major events in sports to organize. Joshua vs. Fury has history, rivalry, commercial value, British relevance and global curiosity.
This is not a fight that needs to be wrapped in cotton wool. It doesn’t require marinating with more side roads and extra calculations.
You have to sign it.
If Joshua really needs a confidence builder, make him the safest one imaginable and move on. But if there is any appetite to turn this interim fight into something more threatening, boxing is once again creating exactly the kind of nightmare that has already cost the sport too much.
There can’t be another breakdown where a routine training session turns into a disaster, the plan falls apart in front of everyone, and the fans are once again dissatisfied for reasons that were obvious from the beginning.
Boxing has seen this story too many times. There’s no need to pretend that the ending is still a secret.
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LIVE COVERAGE
World Boxing News provides live results and updates from George Liddard’s European middleweight title clash with Dario Morello at the Copper Box Arena in London.
The undefeated Liddard faces the biggest test of his career against experienced Italian Morello, with the vacant European middleweight championship on the line.
Three other vacant titles will be decided on the card as Jimmy Sains, Emmanuel Buttigieg and Tiah Mai Ayton attempt to take the next step in their careers.
Live Scorecard –George Liddard vs. Dario Morello
Live Results
Times are local BST
19:45
Tiah Mai Ayton won the vacant Commonwealth featherweight title in a solid display against Ellie Hellewell. The Hellewell corner called off the fight after six completed rounds as Ayton made it seven straight wins as a pro and pushed towards world honors.
18:52
Connor Mitchell gets four useful rounds under his belt with a 39-37 points victory over Caine Singh.
Singh made him work for it, but the all-action Mitchell did enough to get his hand raised.
18:16
Louie Ward moved to 3-0 with a dominant performance, stopping Jon Martinez in the third round.
Ward was in control throughout before forcing the finish to secure another impressive victory.
17:42
Ioan Croft dropped Tomas Reynoso early on before seeing out a sixth round victory. The referee waved the fight off with just over a minute left of the round.
17:10
Harley Burrows opened the show with a first round stoppage of Carlos Ronner. Burrows pinned Ronner on the ropes and waded in until the referee halted the contest.
TV Coverage and Remaining Bouts
United Kingdom: DAZN
- George Liddard vs. Dario Morello – Vacant European Middleweight Title (12)
- Jimmy Sains vs. Tom Cowling – Vacant Commonwealth Middleweight Title (12)
- Emmanuel Buttigieg vs. P A Gordon – Vacant English Middleweight Title (10)
Preview
Liddard enters his first European title fight with a perfect 14-0 record as the 24-year-old attempts to continue his rapid rise through the middleweight division.
Morello brings considerably more experience at 26-1 and arrives in London undefeated since 2019.
The event takes place at the Copper Box Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing promoting the card.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
Read Phil Jay’s full bio and latest stories.
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