Anthony Joshua believes studying Tyson Fury's coach would be a key component to beating his rival in a world heavyweight title super-fight.
The two Brits have been on a collision course for almost their entire careers, but have never been able to agree to fight, which would be one of the biggest in the sport. They had a date booked in August of last year, but contractual issues forced Fury out, while a fight which was discussed for this month broke down at the last minute.
And now it appears the fight may never happen, with Fury set to compete for the undisputed heavyweight title next year, while Joshua needs a number of wins to return to contention. However, in a recent GQ video, the Londoner was asked about his gameplan for beating Fury, telling fans that his rival's coaching and mentality are the key players in such a bout.
"How do I prepare for Tyson Fury?" Joshua asked. "What I do is I go back in history, I watch other heavyweights that have fought taller opponents, opponents that are elusive. I also watch the coach that's training Tyson Fury, how he prepares his fighters and then I'll also watch Tyson Fury from a mental standpoint and understand where he's weak mentally and I'll combine it all together and go in there and do my best, I'm sure that should be enough."
British fight fans seem to think such a match-up will never happen after breaking down on multiple occasions. Even Fury himself has insisted the bout is not on his radar, claiming that if it were to take place, it would have been this month, when instead he faced Derek Chisora in a trilogy bout.
"I don't think it'll happen," Fury said of the Joshua fight during a recent interview with IFL TV. "If it was going to happen it would have happened in December just gone when Chisora stepped up, manned up and stepped up to the plate. I can guarantee you will not see it, 100 per cent. Like you didn't see Froch-Calzaghe, you didn't see Hatton-Witter, you didn't see Amir Khan vs any of them.
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"It's not happening, mush, 100 per cent, it's not happening. I'm going to take on the man that beat him twice, so what is he? Irrelevant or what? I'm going to knock out the guy that beat him twice, what are they going to say about me then? 'Oh my gosh, who is this guy? Where has he come from?'"
In the GQ video, Joshua also claimed that he would rather rematch Dillian Whyte, his old London rival, than face Fury - insisting that the bout has "more swag". The pair are local rivals, and fought in the amateurs where Whyte handed Joshua his first ever loss before competing again in the paid ranks, with Joshua getting his win back.
"It has to be Dillian Whyte. South London, North London," Joshua added when asked which fight he would prefer. "Fury's good, but he's a Manchester boy. I think Dillian has more swag in general, but he's come up short a few times."
