Irish boxing icon Barry McGuigan has backed Anthony Joshua to defeat Tyson Fury, basing his prediction partly on their much-talked-about sparring session in 2010.
The two Brits are set to collide later this year, but only if they emerge victorious and unscathed from their respective warm-up fights this weekend.
First, Fury will face the 46-year-old Mariusz Wach in Pattaya, Thailand, this Friday, despite coming off a unanimous decision victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov in April.
While it was a largely dominant performance, many felt the 37-year-old had lost a step after incurring 16 months of inactivity, which followed his second points defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024.
Against Wach, then, Fury will have the opportunity to produce a more dynamic display, even if the event is not expected to be broadcast on a major platform.
As for Joshua, there should be no great risk, either, when he faces the unproven Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this Saturday.
Instead, fans are eager to see how he performs against an actual heavyweight, with most of them remaining unsatisfied following his sixth-round finish over the undersized Jake Paul in December.
Prior to that, ‘AJ’ suffered a fifth-round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, though McGuigan has told talkSPORT that Fury, stylistically, represents a vastly different opponent.
“I think Dubois would knock out Anthony Joshua every single day of the week, but I think Joshua beats Tyson Fury every day of the week.
“He just has that style; he just has that technique. I think he’s too much for [Fury].”
McGuigan goes on to mention their sparring session that took place in 2010, when Fury admitted to almost being knocked out by the 20-year-old Joshua.
