Anthony Joshua says his focus is on fighting Tyson Fury in 2025. Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) wants to make a mega-fight against recently defeated former WBC heavyweight champion Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) soon.
Luring Fury back
Fury, 36, lay on the sidelines of his unification champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 in Riyadh, and is no doubt wondering what went wrong this time to be beaten for a second time. He looked like he was gone.
His performance, or lack thereof, showed why it’s important to arrange a ‘Battle of Britain’ fight against Joshua as soon as possible. Some believe Fury could announce his retirement and they are on ‘R’ watch, waiting for his tearful speech.
Joshua needs to increase the pressure on Fury to cheer him up and motivate him to stay because he might do something impulsive. He retired once, only to return.
“2025, I’m targeting Tyson Fury,” Anthony Joshua said Sky Sports News.
AJ has more reason to retire than Fury as he was defeated by IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois in his fifth round knockout defeat on September 21 in front of over 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London. It was a complete mismatch, as Joshua was knocked out four times.
Joshua had never been knocked out like that before. Dubois was seen to be too strong, young and talented out of his league. However, it would be the same thing if Dubois was fighting Fury. It might even be easier for him because his resistance to the shot is gone, and Dubois would have nothing to hold back for even a second.
“It makes me hungry, it makes me want to work harder. Time is of the essence; time is limited, so I just want to put in more work,” Joshua said of his loss to Daniel Dubois on Sept. 21.
“When I look back, I believe I could have done more in 2024. I have another chance in 2025 to do more, and I will try to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. I should have won but I didn’t and I will go again,” said Joshua.
Joshua should forget about Dubois permanently and focus entirely on fighting Fury twice before it’s over. Going back to Daniel would be a bad idea.
