Joshua calls out Tyson Fury after beating Klitschko

Boxingnews24.com

By Allan Fox: IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua called out Tyson Fury on Saturday night after stopping Wladimir Klitschko in their fight in London, England. Immediately after the fight ended, Joshua started calling out former heavyweight champion Fury. That’s a fight that Joshua and the British public want to see.

Fury is currently weighing in the neighborhood of 350 pounds, and still without a boxing license to fight. Joshua may need to wait a while before him and Fury can get it on until the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) are ready to give him his license to fight. Even when that happens, Fury is going to need to melt off 100 pounds before he’ll be ready to fight.

If Fury needed any motivation to burn off the weight, he surely got it tonight in looking at how Joshua struggled badly against Klitschko. Fury did a far better job beating Wladimir 2 years ago in 2015 than Joshua did tonight. Fury had Wladimir tied in knots mentally and unable to pull the trigger on his shots. Joshua didn’t have that same effect on Wladimir. In fact, it was the opposite.

Wladimir did very well against Joshua in knocking him down in round 6, and having him close to being knocked out. Joshua showed heart in coming back to knock Wladimir in round 11 after knocking him to the canvas x 2. Wladmir fought well enough to rate a second fight against Joshua. A lot of boxing fans would probably like to see a rematch between the two tall Olympic gold medalists.

“Tyson Fury where you at, baby,” Joshua said. “Come on – that’s what they want to see. I just want to fight everyone. I’m really enjoying this right now.”

Fury looks like he might have the talent to beat Joshua if he can get back to the level we saw from him in the past. If Fury ever takes all the weight off and gets his boxing license back, it will be interesting to see him and Joshua square off. Fury will need to take at least one tune-up to get ready for the fight. If he faces Joshua straight off the bat, it’ll make it look to some boxing fans that it’s just a money grab on Fury’s part. For it to be seen as legit, Fury needs to fight someone before fighting for a world title.

It was bad enough that Wladimir came off of a 2-year layoff tonight to fight Joshua after being out of the ring since 2015. Wladimir didn’t fight like someone coming off of a long layoff. It looked more like Joshua was the one coming off the long layoff. Joshua only put on a few extra pounds for this fight, but he looked bigger than he had in his previous fight against Eric Molina. The weight slowed Joshua down badly.

Wladimir lasted until the 11th round, and had more than good moments before bowing out. In fact, Wladimir looked like the better fighter of the two and the younger guy physically. That’s not a positive for Joshua, who at 27 was supposed to be able to breeze past the 41-year-old Klitschko. It didn’t happen that way. Wladimir’s hand speed advantage and better boxing skills had him dominating Joshua from round 4 until he was stopped in round 11 at Wembley Stadium.

“I came out and I won – that’s how far I had to dig. I came back and I fought my heart out,” said Joshua. “As boxing states you leave your ego at the door and you respect your opponent. A massive shout out to Wladimir Klitschko for taking the fight. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t know if he wants to come back and fight me. He’s a role model in and out of the ring.”

Wladimir more than deserves a rematch with Joshua. No one in Joshua’s short pro career has done what Wladimir did tonight. He dominated Joshua in the middle rounds, and had him looking muscle-bound, tired and just like all the guys that Wladimir has beaten in the past. The only thing that kept Wladimir from running away with the fight was him not throwing his rights after hurting Joshua in the 6th. Wladimir stopped using his right entirely and was mostly jabbing and missing with wild left hooks.

If Wladimir had connected with one of his left hooks, he probably would have knocked Joshua out. The right hand was what Wladimir needed to throw and he wouldn’t do it. That was the main difference between the 41-year-old Wladimir we saw tonight and a younger one. A younger Wladimir would have teed off on Joshua with right hand once he had him hurt. Joshua couldn’t block Wladimir’s right hands because they were thrown with so much speed and power. Even when Joshua would hold up his big arms, Wladimir’s right hand would sail through it. Wladimir used a lot of feints, making Joshua unsure when he would get hit with the punch. When stopped throwing his right hands, he let Joshua off the hook and that enabled him to survive until the 11th.

This was supposed to be Joshua’s coming out party to the boxing world. His fight was beamed into the U.S and shown on HBO and Showtime boxing. This was Joshua’s moment to display his talent to the world. What Joshua showed tonight wan an extremely limited and vulnerable heavyweight, who can punch a little, but who has a weak chin, poor stamina, no mobility and defensive skills that are rudimentary at best. Joshua said that he’s not perfect, and he’s still learning.

It’s more than Joshua not being perfect. He’s very flawed in a way that you can’t really correct. The flaws that Joshua showed tonight are ones that he won’t be able to correct because he’s a big lumbering Frank Bruno type heavyweight. He’s a big heavyweight that will never had great stamina and will always be hurt by shots. What was shocking was how quickly Joshua gassed in round 5 after knocking Wladimir down. Joshua only threw a small number of power shots while trying to get Wladimir out, but he was completely tired from the expenditure of energy.

Joshua keeps his unbeaten with his win over Klitschko ton Saturday night, but he’s going to need to really work hard for him to stay undefeated. A rematch between Joshua and Wladimir would have to be viewed as a 50-50 affair if there is a rematch. Joshua will have his hands full if he fights Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker or Luis Ortiz. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn will need to be careful with who he matched him against if he wants him to stay undefeated.

The Joshua fought tonight isn’t going to last another year unbeaten if he fights the best guys. There are a number of younger fighters that are moving up as well and will soon be on Joshua’s doorstep looking to take his titles away from him. Hearn can’t be pleased with what he saw tonight for his young fighter Joshua, because this guy is not going to last another six months as a world champion if he’s matched against wrong guy.

“I’m not perfect but I’m trying,” Joshua said. “I got a bit emotional because I know I have doubters. I’m only going to improve.”