Anthony Joshua is too easy to hit and Deontay Wilder wouldn’t even lay a glove on Tyson Fury, says Frank Warren

Climbing high: Frank Warren could return to the big time again with Tyson Fury
Getty Images
John Dillon5 June 2018

Veteran promoter Frank Warren admits it took time before he was convinced about Tyson Fury’s ability to rule heavyweight boxing.

Now, as the former world champion finally returns after a two-and-a-half year absence on Saturday, Warren insists he has no doubt that Fury is the best in the world right now.

He says: “I wasn’t convinced at first. But now he is head and shoulders above Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.

“Joshua would have a big problem against him because he is easy to hit. His defence is not good enough. Wilder wouldn’t even lay a glove on Fury. In their hearts, they know it, too.

“But if Tyson and Joshua ever meet in a world title fight, it would be one of the biggest events in British sporting history. Right up there with the 1966 World Cup Final.

“I’ve been a promoter for 37 years and I never, ever thought there would be the possibility that two home-grown British heavyweights could meet here in front of 90,000 people.

“But it could happen in future. In fact, even now people can’t stop talking about the idea of it happening.”

A showdown between Joshua, the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO world champion, and Fury, who once held those four belts, could happen by the middle of next summer, assuming boxing politics don’t intervene.

First, though, comes the initial step; Fury’s return to the ring two years and seven months after his epic world title victory against Wladimir Klitschko.

Action Images via Reuters

When Fury meets the 39-year-old Albanian Sefer Seferi at the Manchester Arena on Saturday, it will be 924 days since he defeated Klitschko in Dusseldorf to claim his heavyweight belts.

Most of the time since was spent in a downward spiral of drugs and booze, depression and weight gain.

He was stripped of the IBF title and relinquished the remaining three as he battled his problems.

This year he has lost seven stones and regained his hunger for boxing.

Now, under Warren’s guidance, the 29-year-old is starting a comeback which could encompass three further fights this year before he hurls himself into the mix at the top of the heavyweight division.

In Pictures | Tyson Fury Press Conference

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An intriguing sub-plot in any discussion of the potential collision between Fury and Joshua is the competition between Warren, 66, and fellow promoter Eddie Hearn, who guides Britain’s current multiple champion.

There is one thing on which they agree, however. The vigour of a British boxing scene which many predicted would die years ago.

Hearn, 38, has filled Wembley and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium twice for Joshua’s most recent fights. Warren recently drew 25,000 people to Leeds’ Elland Road for a world featherweight title fight between Josh Warrington and Lee Selby. Fury’s re-entry to the scene will send interest in the sport soaring further. Warren adds: “I have to be honest, I wasn’t a fan until he beat Dereck Chisora for the second time in 2014.

Close encounter: Warren says it will take three or four fights to get Fury back to the top
Getty Images

“He had beaten him on points three years before but Chisora was in much better shape second time around. He had taken Vitali Klitschko the distance in 2012. And he was coming off a run of five good wins.

“Tyson absolutely took him to school. He didn’t lose a second of any round. I said to myself — do that against Klitschko and you’ll beat him and hold the belts for ages. Nobody will get near you.”

Regarding Joshua, Warren says Fury is the more accomplished boxer while the younger Brit has explosive power.

Warren adds: “It’s brilliant what Joshua has done. But he doesn’t defend well enough. Tyson has a great boxing brain. But he is big, too. He never lost his belts in the ring. Joshua picked them up later. But Fury should be having a big part of this heavyweight scene. He is in a very good place now. He is looking forward to getting back his titles.”

In Pictures | Tyson Fury

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Warren, too, is looking forward and his hunger is undimmed. He adds: “There is rivalry. I’ve always had competition. I love it. I thrive on it. It’s good for everyone in boxing.

“It does your head in when you constantly hear people claiming boxing is finished. It has never been bigger in this country. And it is getting bigger still.”

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