Having previously appeared in the opposite corner to both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Don Charles has expressed complete confidence in his pre-fight prediction.
Most notably, the British trainer guided Daniel Dubois to a resounding fifth-round stoppage over ‘AJ’ in 2024, while his earlier encounters with Fury were far less successful.
The first of these came in 2011, when, as the head coach of Derek Chisora, Charles found himself in the losing corner following a 12-round unanimous decision.
Then came a far more punishing 10th-round stoppage defeat for Chisora in 2014, before history repeated itself in an unlikely trilogy bout that occurred around eight years later.
It is therefore fair to say that Charles never quite solved the Fury puzzle, just as he and Dubois fell short in their two assignments with Oleksandr Usyk.
And while he places Usyk on a different pedestal altogether, the respected coach nonetheless gives ‘The Gypsy King’ credit for his versatility.
Based on that, Charles has told Seconds Out that he backs Fury to defeat Joshua at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11.
“Irrespective of how old they have become, and how many miles they’ve got on the clock, we’re still going to get a good fight in my opinion.
“It’s even more clear to me now than it would’ve been five [or] six years ago … I’ve always leaned towards Tyson Fury.
“With the exception of Usyk, he’s the one who’s like a chameleon – he can change colours in front of you.”
Adding to Charles’ confidence might be Joshua’s last outing, which resulted in a second-round finish over Kristian Prenga after he survived two knockdowns.
