‘They’ve missed the boat’ – Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is no longer the tremendous fight it once was insists British boxing legend
Former IBF cruiserweight champion Glenn McCrory doubts Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury will ever take place.
Over the last five years, the heavyweight titans have been slated to face each other several times to no avail.
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The closest they came to sharing the ring together was back in 2021 when both men held all four major sanctioning body belts between them.
In August of that year, an agreement was reached for a two-fight deal but those plans were quickly scrapped after a judge in a US court ruled that Deontay Wilder was entitled to exercise his option for a third fight with Fury.
Since then, both men have had their world titles snatched from them by Oleksandr Usyk, although they could end up competing for undisputed supremacy in the not-so-distant future if they both win their next fights.
Fury is set to rematch Usyk for the WBA, WBC and WBO titles on December 21, while Joshua will challenge newly upgraded IBF champion Daniel Dubois on September 21.
Saudi boxing chief HE Turki Alalshikh is aiming to make Joshua vs Fury in March 2025 providing both men come out of their respective contests unscathed.
It has long been the most hotly anticipated fight in British boxing, however, McCrory doesn't believe it holds the same magnitude it once did.
"Often the fights you really want to see don't happen and a couple of years ago that was a tremendous fight but they've missed the boat," he told talkSPORT.com.
"I'm not sure that will ever happen to be fair, if Fury doesn't perform against Usyk then he's done everything and has made enough money to air condition hell.
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"It's the same thing if Joshua doesn't perform against Dubois. They don't need it and when the hunger is gone a fighter is never the same...
"Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have done great things for British heavyweight boxing.
"For a time, we were a bit of a laughing stock when it came to the top heavyweights in the world and Joshua and Fury have changed that.
"But I think we've seen the best of both. There comes a point in every fighter's life when they hit their peak and the rest is the slide down and both those fighters now are over the top."
If Joshua wins his fight with Dubois and Usyk beats Fury then there is a chance that AJ gets a third fight with the Ukrainian slickster.
But it remains unclear whether Usyk would entertain the fight as he has spoken openly about wanting to move back down to cruiserweight to become a two-time undisputed champion after the Fury rematch.
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