We had already started the countdown to the boxing match of the decade as the unification bout for the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world title fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury had all been concluded for Saudi Arabia in August only for the surprise news that jolted us all back to reality, Tyson Fury must fight Deontey Wilder while Anthony Joshua must trade punches with Oleksandr Usyk.
An arbitrator in the United Kingdom just a couple of weeks ago had ruled that Fury must fight WIlder for the third time since both boxers had originally put pen to pay for such an agreement. Consequently, the fight will now hold on July 24th at the T. Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, USA.
For Anthony Joshua, it’s time to defend his WBO title and it must be against the sanctioning body’s no 1 contender, former cruiserweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk. What this all means is that while we will be seeing both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua stepping into the rings in a couple of weeks’ time, it will not be against each other but against other boxers.
Now the big question: what happens if any of Fury or Joshua or both, loses to their respective opponents? The answer, so easy to decipher is that there would be no Fury vs AJ fight. Both boxers are up against formidable opponents and the truth is that no one can say for sure, where the pendulum of victory is going to swing.
Prior to the first fight between Tyson Fury and Deontey Wilder in 2018 that ended in a draw, Wilder had knocked out all his previous opponents. Fury got off the canvas in the 12th round to escape his first defeat. In the 2020 re-match, Fury battered Wilder for a seventh-round TKO victory. Neither fighter has fought since the bout.
Oleksandr Usyk on the other hand just like Anthony Joshua also won gold in the heavyweight category of the London 2012 Olympics and the Ukrainian reigned as the undisputed cruiserweight champion from 2018 until he vacated his titles in 2019, being the first cruiserweight in history to hold all four major world championships—the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, and WBO titles.
Without a doubt, it will be a tough one to call but while we await the outcome of the matches, one thing is sure, the Fury vs AJ clash for Saudi Arabia in August isn’t going to happen anymore and may not even happen in the foreseeable future, if at all.
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