Mike Tyson predicts that Anthony Joshua won’t be able to land his power shots on the “elusive” Tyson Fury when they meet up in July in their undisputed heavyweight clash.
Mike notes that IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (24-1, 21 KOs) isn’t as fast as former WBC champ Deontay Wilder, and Fury avoided getting hit by him through most of their two fights in 2018 and 2020.
One difference between Joshua and Wilder that Mike failed to discuss was the combination punching ability of AJ. Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) is a one punch at a time fighter like former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
So, Fury was able to dodge the single shots from Wilder and Wladimir and then counter them.
After a while, those two fighters became gunshy because they weren’t confident that they could land, and they didn’t want to get countered by Fury.
“You know I f**** love [Anthony] Joshua, but I think [Tyson] Fury is too elusive,” said Mike Tyson to Haute Living’s Instagram. “Joshua is NOT going to hit him.”
With Joshua, he’s a combination puncher, so it’s less of a negative for him when he misses his first punch because he’s going to use his other hand to throw, and he’ll continue throwing.
Fury will be able to dodge one or two of Joshua’s shots, but not six or seven without getting clipped. Joshua will keep firing punches, and he won’t be deterred not to throw if he misses his first punch.
We’ve seen the video clip of Fury on the ropes, avoiding the flurry of punches that Otto Wallin was throwing at him in their fight in September 2019. However, Wallin was throwing only to the head of Fury and not mixing up his punches to the body the way Joshua will.
Wallin didn’t have the sense enough to target Fury’s body, making it easy for him to avoid his punches to the head. Also, Wallin’s hand speed was painfully slow. Joshua is a lot faster, and it’ll be tougher for Fury to avoid getting hit by him once he starts unloading.
Tyson: Joshua doesn’t punch faster than Wilder
“We’re keeping it honest, right?” Mike Tyson continued. “I like Joshua a lot. Maybe he punches harder than Deontay Wilder, but he doesn’t punch faster than Wilder.
“If he doesn’t punch faster than Wilder, he’s not going to f**** touch this guy. If Tyson Fury can get away from Wilder’s fast punches, Joshua might be in trouble,” said Mike Tyson.
Joshua might actually have more hand speed than Wilder, but he’s a complete fighter and superior on offense even if he doesn’t. Fury will have his work cut out for him to avoid getting hit by Joshua’s shots for the entire 12 round fight.
