Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury must finally agree to fight, says former world heavyweight champion David Haye.
Haye, a two-weight world titlist who was the leading British heavyweight before Joshua and Fury emerged, believes now is the time for the long-awaited showdown. “That’s the biggest fight they could both possibly have. They should be pushing it, they should be pressing it, they have to be,” Haye told Sky Sports.
“They both need each other, for their own legacies, different reasons. They both need to say Anthony Joshua was in the same era as Tyson Fury, vice versa, and they battled it out to figure out who won.”
Both Fury and Joshua lost their world titles to Oleksandr Usyk. Fury has recently returned to boxing after a year-long break, while Joshua is getting back to training after recovering from a car accident in which two of his close friends died. Talks are ongoing for a Fury–Joshua fight this year, with Joshua likely to take a warm-up bout first. Promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed they have received a contract for the Fury fight, which is under discussion.
Haye acknowledges neither fighter is in his prime but argues that doesn’t rule out a big, meaningful fight. “They didn’t fight each other in their prime but we got to see it in the end. Just like Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao didn’t fight in their prime [but at their] commercial peak. Maybe this is their commercial peak. Maybe they will earn more money now than they would have done when it was first talked about.”
Fury’s 12 rounds with Arslanbek Makhmudov, Haye says, will have helped prepare him for Joshua. Haye described Makhmudov as a measured stepping stone to Joshua: a big, strong opponent with similar dimensions and a vertical arm defence like AJ’s, not especially slick with head movement. “He believes what he still has left and what he believes he has is more than enough to beat Anthony Joshua. And that’s a massive fight that the fans want to see.”