When Fury later tried to lure Joshua into the ring to restart the fight, Joshua says he had other things on his mind.

“I was there on a scouting mission. I wanted to see that this was the guy I wanted to fight, right? I was there to see what would happen, how he was doing, and I saw some good things, but I also saw some bad things,” Joshua told Mr. Verzace in Ring Magazine.

It’s amazing how disconnected the sound of Joshua’s breakdown is. He looks at a guy who’s just slogged through a twelve-round track meet without posing any threat, and treats it like a deep, philosophical chess match in which he “saw some good things and some bad things.”

Good things? What good things? Fury looked exactly like he is: a middle-aged fighter on a long hiatus who completely lacked the trigger-pulling ability that made him elite. Makhmudov is the definition of a restricted, lumbering domestic-level player who would be completely consumed by any legitimate top-15 player, let alone a top-tier player.

The fact that Fury couldn’t or wouldn’t get him out of there tells you everything you need to know about what his reflexes and strength are like right now.

“I would have liked to see a break in the game,” Joshua said.

Joshua stating that he would “prefer to see downtime” and noting his lack of “intent to harm him” is the understatement of the century. He treats the glaring, neon-lit sign of the fall as if it were just a minor tactical choice by Fury. Anyone with eyes could see that Fury was working difficult.

You wonder if Joshua is just trying to be extra polite, or if he’s so programmed into his own bubble that he can’t just come out and state the obvious: the version of Fury that ran the division is gone.

“I didn’t really see any intention to hurt Makhmudov at any point,” Joshua said.

Joshua is a leading corporate brand and knows that completely destroying a product kills pay-per-view purchase rates before contracts are even signed. If he goes out there and tells the public that Fury is completely shot and washed, he undermines the entire value of their massive domestic clash. Keeping the ambiguity in the “good things and bad things” routine keeps the plot alive and protects the box office.

AJ always had this ponderous, literal way of processing things, almost like he was reading cue cards in his own mind. He often has difficulty analyzing things dynamically on the fly, which is why his judgments can seem so basic and distant. Instead of seeing a guy doing physical work and losing his reflexes, Joshua just looks at it as a checklist: did he win? Yes. Did he stop him? NO.

It’s a combination of corporate protection and a real lack of deep analytical vision. He can’t or won’t see Fury fighting a guy who has no interest in lasting twelve rounds against an elite heavyweight.

“Fury is just another number,” AJ said. I don’t put him on a pedestal. He is not above anyone.

This is the one moment where the corporate filter shifted and the real, unvarnished Joshua emerged.

When he says, “Fury is just another number,” he removes all the hype, the accumulation of promotion, and the mythical status that has surrounded Fury for years. This is the behavior of a fighter who, on a scouting mission, looked around the ring, saw a middle-aged guy fighting a tight-fisted opponent, and realized the boogeyman was gone.

For a long time, Fury occupied this untouchable space in British boxing, but his performance against Makhmudov clearly dispelled Joshua’s illusions. The saying, “He is above no one” is the most telling part. It shows that Joshua finally sees him as a human opponent who can be defeated, rather than as an unbeatable heavyweight king. Even if Joshua’s overall analysis is basic, this particular realization represents a huge shift in psychology leading up to their fight.

One of the most coveted fights in boxing is the lithe heavyweight clash between unified world champion Dmitry Bivol and pound-for-pound star David Benavidez, and now two-time welterweight champion Shawn Porter has shared his thoughts on the proposed clash.

When Benavidez got back on his feet and fought for the unified cruiserweight world titles last month, many doubted whether his punching power would translate to the 200-pound division, but “The Mexican Monster” quickly proved that it would. stopping Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in six rounds.

Since then, all the talk has been whether Benavidez could return to the lithe heavyweight scene and face Bivol, but suggestions of a catchweight fight have raised concerns about whether the 29-year-old will actually be able to drop down to 175 pounds.

I keep talking your own podcastPorter declared that Bivol had the style to hand the “Mexican Monster” the first defeat of his career, believing that the way to defeat the three-division world champion was to snail-paced him down.

“Bivol was Bivol [against Michael Eifert]. Will Bivol beat David Benavidez? I think so [even] If sparring was going well for David back then, there is still so much to consider, so many things to consider.

“I think that’s the style you need to beat or compete with Benavidez. You have to be quick, but also have a certain power and pop that Benavidez has to respect and be more calculated.”

“If you snail-paced down Benavidez, you’ll have a better chance of beating him.”

Despite the ‘Mexican Monster”s wishes to face Bivol, there appear to be obstacles to the fight taking place as the WBO has ordered Bivol to defend his world titles against Liverpool’s Callum Smith, while a trilogy fight with Artur Beterbiev is also being discussed.

David Haye made one of Deontay Wilder’s boldest claims in the build-up to his rematch with Tyson Fury, only for the argument to look very different twelve days later as Fury led the American out in Las Vegas.

In February 2020, Haye supported Wilder’s chin, recovery ability and all-time punching ability ahead of his rematch with Fury at the MGM Grand.

At the time, it wasn’t an outrageous sight because Haye knew Wilder better than most from many sparring rounds.

Wilder was also undefeated, still the WBC heavyweight champion, and had almost knocked out Fury in the final round of their first meeting in 2018, which meant many people still believed that one immaculate right hand could decide the rematch.

This was the most feared version of Wilder in boxing before Fury changed the entire conversation in seven brutal rounds.

David Haye on Deontay Wilder

Ahead of the Wilder vs Fury II fight, Haye recalled his sparring sessions with Wilder before the “Bronze Bomber” became world champion.

The former cruiserweight and heavyweight titleholder told Richie Woodall on BT Sport that Wilder’s punch resistance is underestimated.

“One thing people don’t mention is impact resistance. I’ve never heard anyone say that [Deontay] I can take the shot. He can hit the shot,” Haye said.

Haye then took the point further.

“Not only does he have a good chin, but he has great recovery ability,” he added.

This was the part that came back most strongly when Fury caught him, because while Haye’s assessment of Wilder’s strength was always easier to defend, the chin and recovery argument was about to face a very different kind of pressure.

Wilder remains one of the most perilous single-punch heavyweights boxing has ever seen, with his right hand securing a world title and leaving many opponents losing their minds. No one needed to exaggerate this threat.

The rematch was different because Fury failed to give Wilder a immaculate, upright fight at the distance that allowed the threat to breathe.

Wilder vs. Fury II

Fury entered the rematch heavier, meaner and fully committed to pushing Wilder back and choking him.

From the opening rounds, the fight was nothing like the first encounter, as the challenger leaned on him, battered him, physically abused him, and kept Wilder from loading up on the weapon that made his career.

WBN was ringside in Las Vegas and scored, but the booking never mattered as Fury knocked down Wilder in the third round, knocked him down again in the fifth and kept the pressure on until the seventh when the towel came and referee Kenny Bayliss stopped the fight.

At the beginning of the seventh round, WBN had Fury in the lead 59-52. The scorecard was there, but Fury made it irrelevant.

The ringside results report described how Fury mauled, manipulated and stopped Deontay Wilder in the seventh minute, which was about as far from Haye’s assessment as Fury could take.

The claim failed within 12 days

Haye said Wilder could take the shot and recover quickly, but Fury forced boxing to see the opposite picture over seven increasingly uncomfortable rounds.

Wilder wasn’t simply sent off. He was slowly being torn apart by the pressure, size, clinch strength and a game plan designed to strip him of the rhythm that made him so perilous.

When Fury hurt him, Wilder never looked like the same fighter again.

The rematch exposed the difference between carrying terrifying power and facing a heavyweight who won’t let you recover.

Wilder still had power, but Fury had lost his aura.

The fury changed everything

Before that night, Wilder could still point to Fury’s twelfth-round escape in the first fight and argue that one punch almost decided everything.

After the rematch, the conversation was completely different because Fury not only outlived Wilder. He dominated him.

Haye’s theorem remains one of the most memorable takeaways from the fracas.

Twelve days before Fury II, Wilder was praised for his beard, recovery and devastating power. Twelve days later, only one of these claims still seemed secure.

The power survived, but everything else was destroyed.

About the author

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.