Former world boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury now believes Anthony Joshua will be taken the distance by Jake Paul next week.
Joshua and Paul will meet in a sanctioned heavyweight contest in Miami next Friday. The controversial contest will be staged over eight three-minute rounds with the fighters wearing 10oz gloves.
Joshua is expected to knock out the YouTuber inside two rounds, but Fury previously claimed the social media star could end the fight early.
“I don’t know about [it being a] tune-up, I think Jake Paul knocks him out. I think that AJ is a spent force, and I think Jake Paul is on the rise,” he said earlier this year. “I like his new heavyweight look. He is a bit chubby, a bit bulky, he is getting there.”
But Fury, who is expected to return to the ring next year having not fought for 12 months, now believes the fight will go the distance with Joshua getting the nod. “I think it will go the distance,” he told OOOsch TV (via Mirror). “I think it will be a move around and a points job, absolutely.”
Also Read: A Look At Anthony Joshua’s Three Best Career Wins
Fury appears to be hinting Joshua will ‘carry’ Paul for the eight rounds to avoid any serious injury, but Joshua has already made his intentions clear and denied he has agreed to go easy. “I haven’t seen that part but no, there is no clause,” he told TMZ. “I heard he fought Mike Tyson in 140z gloves and that he was going to fight Gervonta in 12oz gloves and then he chose to fight me in 10oz gloves so… he wants to hurt me, I think he wants to take me out.
“I understand people’s concerns but they have to start believing in Jake. They don’t believe because they can’t get their head around how he beat those guys. How did he beat Anderson Silva, how did he beat Nate Diaz, how did he beat Mike Tyson? I’m telling you there is no stipulation in the contract where I have to take it easy.”
Fury, meanwhile, has not fought since he was beaten for a second time by Oleksandr Usyk last December. He hung up his gloves the following month but has since said he intends to return to the ring in 2026.
