Tyson Fury has urged Anthony Joshua to get the job done against Francis Ngannou and set up a long-awaited ‘Battle of Britain’ between the two heavyweight rivals.
Joshua fights Ngannou on Friday night in Saudi Arabia, looking to continue his recent run of wins and keep building towards a shot at becoming a three-time heavyweight champion.
Ngannou is the underdog, but the former UFC star proved last year he is capable of performing in the boxing ring, as he dropped Fury and gave the WBC champion a huge scare in their ten-round bout.
Fury’s focus has now turned to an undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk, rescheduled for May 18, with a second fight expected later this year, regardless of the outcome in the spring.
Should Fury come through those bouts successfully, he has confirmed the plan is for him to fight Joshua, assuming his fellow Briton does not slip up before then.
“After me and Usyk fight and then we do a rematch, the winner of [Joshua vs Ngannou] will get a shot at that,” Fury said. “Me and Usyk have two fights lined up this year.
“So there’s a lot on the line. It’s not just a pretend fight like me and Ngannou had, so they said. There’s a lot on the line.”
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has suggested that a rematch between Fury and Usyk could be pushed to one side, if there was enough demand for Fury and Joshua to finally meet in the ring.
Those plans will be derailed on Friday night though, if Ngannou pulls off an upset, or if Usyk, who has twice beaten Joshua, can take Fury’s unbeaten record in May and become undisputed champion.
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“He’s been busted by Usyk a couple of times already,” Fury responded, when asked about the possibility of a third fight between Joshua and Usyk.
“We all saw that fight. It was one of them things where he just doesn’t have the guy’s number.
“Leave [Usyk] to me. The little southpaw man, I’ll slay him. No problem. Twice if he wants it. Leave him to the GK.
“And then, we can get the Battle of Britain on, provided [Joshua] gets past [Ngannou], which is not a formality because he’s a big man and he can punch.”
