Anthony Joshua Calls For a UK Showdown with Tyson Fury
Two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua (25-3, 22KO) picked up the unanimous decision victory over Jermaine “989 Assassin” Franklin (21-2, 14KO). Following the win, AJ sent a message to WBC champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury (33-0-1, 24KO)
The boxing world focused on AJ mentioning retirement upon possibly taking a loss to Franklin. Fans don’t have to worry about that, as Joshua boxed behind an educated jab en route to the victory. Coming in at his heaviest weight ever, 255 pounds, the former unified champion paced himself by keeping the fight at mid-range and would hold whenever Franklin got on the inside.
Boxing pundits will see this as a bad look for the British fighter as a statement performance was needed. Joshua did acknowledge a stoppage is what should have happened, but is ready to move on to the next challenge.
COULD TYSON FURY BE NEXT FOR JOSHUA?
Prior to the fight, the two-time unified champion hinted at the time being right to fight The Gypsy King. During the post-fight interview, when asked that very question, Joshua put it to the fans to decide before issuing a statement to Fury.
“The ball is in his court. I’d 100% be honored to compete for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world. I stand here and say that proudly . . . so wherever you are [Fury] if you’re listening, you know my management, you know my promoter. We’ve had dialect before, so let’s continue this. So hopefully we can get this on sooner than later. We ain’t getting any younger.”
As mentioned by AJ, they have tried to make a fight unsuccessfully in the past. However, fans want to see it take place. There is no better time than now, with both men available. Furthermore, Fury needs a quality opponent following the public collapse of the undisputed showdown against unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
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