Domestic rivals Fury and Joshua have now both lost fights against Oleksandr Usyk, and boxing icon Roy Jones Jr has told them the truth about their s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s.
Buster Douglas, the former heavyweight champion, has given Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua a reality check.
Both domestic rivals have now succumbed to Oleksandr Usyk, with Fury missing out on the opportunity to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in their historic bout last month. ‘AJ’ lost his united belts to Usyk three years ago and failed to regain them in their 2022 rematch.
And Douglas, who stunned Mike Tyson in 1990 in the biggest upset in heavyweight history, would not include Fury or Joshua among the top 30 heavyweights of his time. “I speak to my trainer about today’s heavyweights and he has a low opinion of them and says they [Fury and AJ] wouldn’t have been in the top 30 in my era, I have to agree,” he stated to The Gambling Zone. “They are s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed, but I’m not sure about their endurance. They do not appear to be able to tolerate power and aggression.”
Joshua is expected to fight Daniel Dubois in September at Wembley Stadium for the IBF heavyweight world title, which Usyk currently holds but will likely be stripped of in the coming weeks. That means the undisputed world titles won’t be on the line for Fury and Usyk’s second fight which is scheduled for December 21.
Should Fury and Joshua win their respective fights, they could clash next year – with Douglas backing Joshua to overcome his fellow Brit. “Right now I think AJ beats Fury,” he added. “It’s not that Fury is on the decline, he just no longer has that strength to withstand that force. Once you start putting your punches together, he tends to get weak as the fight goes on and his power levels start faltering. It’s a strong possibility that AJ would knock Fury out, I think he would.
“He would definitely take Fury out. It would not go the distance, AJ would knock him out. And AJ-Usyk is right now also a good one. I’d say AJ beats Fury and AJ Usyk is 50-50. AJ is looking like he’s on mission and he’s finally got it together and he’s changed some things.”