Anthony Joshua has been backed to beat Tyson Fury should the two rivals finally fight one another in an All-British boxing extravaganza. Joshua is preparing to clash with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in a blockbuster crossover bout in Saudi Arabia this week, while Fury will clash with Oleksandr Usyk in May.
Joshua and Ngannou are set to fight in Riyadh on Friday night before Fury and fellow unbeaten star Usyk clash on May 18 to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. The winner of Joshua-Ngannou is reportedly set to fight the winner of the Fury-Usyk showdown.
This paves the way to a potential Fury and Joshua fight that fans have long been clamoring for promoters to book. Should the two finally settle their differences in the ring, boxer Jeremiah Milton believes Joshua would come out on top against the WBC champion.
“I’d actually back AJ to pull it off,” Milton, who was in camp before Fury’s trilogy win over Deontay Wilder in 2021 while he worked with Joshua before his win over Jermaine Franklin in 2023, told SunSport. “I think these guys all deserve to fight each other at some point, because it’s all speculation. But yeah, I’ve got AJ pulling that off.”
Milton truly hopes the two British stars finally clash in the ring, and he elaborated on his decision to back Joshua, who has won each of his last three fights. He explained: “I think there has been a silent passing of the torch and it hasn’t happened on paper yet, it hasn’t happened in the ring. But this whole triangle theory of, ‘Oh he’s the guy because he beat this guy.’
“It’s like we’ve got back to that somehow and once these fighters fight against each other on any given night they can beat somebody. I think Joshua is actually the better one and I’ve shared the ring with Fury and I’ve got mad respect for Fury but I think Joshua is better because he’s more consistent. And Fury might have a bag of tricks and might be able to do all these things but it’s that consistency, it’s that ‘OK I’ve got good power and I’m going to work and continue to give it my best at all times’.
“Sometimes Fury might say he’s giving it his best but we don’t know, we just don’t know what we’re going to get. So again just Joshua with the consistency and proving he’s going to step up and fight a lot of people at any given notice, yeah I’d have to say Joshua.”
Milton is still in Riyadh after assisting Ngannou’s fight camp as he prepares to face Joshua. The 29-year-old is unsure who is going to come out on top – but he expects a knockout.
“It’s going to be a knockout,” Milton said. “There’s going to be a knockout. I’m definitely willing to tick on the ballet that somebody’s going to get knocked out.
“I don’t think it’s that type of fight, both dudes get hit and that’s because they’re in the process of trying to hit and you get hit. Two big punchers, what else could possibly happen? I don’t see it going to a decision.”
Joshua will fight Ngannou on Friday, March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
