Boxing
Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury could be ruined again
Published
2 months agoon
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.
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
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Boxing
Shane Mosley predicts PM Marvin Hagler vs PM Canelo: ‘I think he’s going to get him’
Published
2 hours agoon
June 23, 2026
Two-division world champion Shane Mosley predicted how the fantastic fight between Canelo Alvarez and “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler would go.
Canelo ruled four weight classes, earning world honors between super welterweight and featherlight heavyweight and becoming the division’s first-ever undisputed champion in an iconic 11-month span.
The 35-year-old’s strength seemed to have waned recently, with him failing to win a single break since 2021. defeat to former lightweight champion Terence Crawford in his last fight.
That being said, his reputation will be able to be reclaimed in September when is fighting for the WBC super middleweight world title.
Still, as his career nears its final chapter, fans wonder where Canelo ranks among the greatest champions of his country, the contemporary era and of all time, wondering how he would fare against other iconic fighters in the division he ruled.
Speaking on Mi Gallo boxing podcasthosted by two-time middleweight title challenger Gabriel Rosado, Mosley selected middleweight fan favorite Hagler to emerge victorious in a fantastic fight against top-ranked Canelo.
“I think Marvin could get him.”
Hagler never boxed outside the middleweight division during his 67-fight career, reigning as undisputed champion for seven years and boasting the sixth-longest reign in division history; during this time he became notable for defeating Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns.
In total, Hagler won 62 of 67 professional fights, with his only three losses coming to Bobby Watts, Willie Monroe and Sugar Ray Leonard, as well as draws to Vito Antuofermo and Sugar Ray Searles.
Author: Sean Crose
“Whether it’s at Wembley Stadium, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas or outside my backyard, it’s still five years too tardy.” This is what Darshan Desai from Yahoo Sport claims in a recent column, in which he states directly that the supposedly upcoming Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua fight is already past its prime and has little significance. Let’s face it, this man is right. For whatever reasons, good or bad, Anthony, Joshua and Tyson Fury never had the opportunity to step into the ring while they were both in charge. And that, honestly, is very bad.
However, this could be a very good fight, worth saving. I say “maybe” because I’m still not convinced it will happen. People talk about things like location and little things like that. The truth is that these two came close to fighting, but they never did. Now their best days are behind them. There are more and more adolescent goats, Oleksandr Usyk conquered them twice apiece. What are these two fighting about… what exactly? Well, let me tell you: these two huge heavyweights are eager to fight because a brawl between them will answer the one question that makes boxing great: which one is the better fighter?
We still don’t have an answer to that question, so I’ll be fascinated to see how the Joshua-Fury fight ends if it actually happens. I’ll repeat: I’m not entirely convinced. One thing is certain, this is the last chance for this fight to become an vital event in the sport of boxing. Seriously, if it lasts beyond 2026, it will be an ancient man’s game…. At least that’s how some people will see it. It will certainly be seen as past its sell-by date.
Of course, if this fight does happen and turns into a thriller, the rematch will be widely seen on television or, in the parlance of the state-of-the-art world, streaming. People thought Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns had weakened before their rematch in the tardy 1980s, but the fight turned out to be a great fight, a classic worthy of the name. If such a match takes place between these two Englishmen, no one will care whether it is relevant or not. The emotions associated with the competition alone will make it vital.
It’s challenging to imagine that any of these men will actually have to fight each other or anyone at all at this point. They have made untold fortunes for themselves, and while boxers are known for leaking millions of dollars, none of them are expected to be on their doorstep anytime soon. However, warriors fight even when they are already at their peak, even when it is unsafe to continue fighting. There may be fewer of them than before, but both Fury and Joshua have a competitive spirit. And that still counts, even in an era where high-level players can go years without slipping between the ropes.
So yes, people will be interested in watching this fight. While the criticism is valid and well-founded, these two not-so-young men are adolescent enough to draw crowds. It won’t be vital. It certainly won’t be as it could be. But it will be something. And when it comes to fighting fans, sometimes something is just good enough. It shouldn’t be like this… but unfortunately it happens sometimes. Let’s hope the fight, if it actually happens, will be a doozy. It still has the makings of a great case.
Boxing
Emiliano Vargas targets fight with George Kambosos after Bryce Mills fight
Published
6 hours agoon
June 22, 2026
“Because before this fight, I would love to fight George Kambosos,” Vargas told Sean Zittel when discussing potential opponents after the Mills fight.
Emiliano stressed that his focus remains on Mills, but made it clear that he believes he is getting closer to the title.
“I’m going to show the world that I’m ready to fight for the title,” Vargas said.
The son of former two-time world champion Fernando Vargas believes that a good performance on the Jaron Ennis-Xander Zayas card can give him significant progress in the competition.
“After this fight, I would love to have a title eliminator or former world champion,” Emiliano said. “I’m second in the WBO rankings, 12th in the WBC. I’m there and I’m knocking on that door.”
Vargas comes into the fight off a win over Agustin Quintana in February. While this performance sparked debate among some fans, Emiliano considers the innings he saved as valuable experience in continuing to develop his game.
The undefeated fighter claims that during the last camps he expanded his training team and worked intensively on movement, angles and fighting under pressure. He also recently spent time in David Benavidez’s camp, drawing inspiration from the former world champion’s work ethic and aggressive style.
If Emiliano beats Mills on Saturday, attention will quickly turn to who will be next. From his comments, Kambosos is at the top of the list.
Kambosos, a former unified lightweight champion, would represent the most recognizable name of Vargas’ career and potentially take him one step closer to the title eliminator he thinks he wants next.

Robert Segal is a boxing reporter at Boxing News 24 with over a decade of experience covering fight news, previews and analysis. Known for his first-hand reporting and in-ring perspective, he delivers authoritative coverage of champions, challengers and emerging talent from around the world.
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