Former four-weight world champion identifies the key to Anthony Joshua beating Tyson Fury

On July 25, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia, Anthony Joshua will face the heavy-handed Albanian Kristian Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs). Tyson Fury is also expected to fight on August 1 against an opponent to be confirmed. Should both win, Joshua vs Fury is set to take place later this year. Ahead of this likely superfight, Roy Jones Jr. has spoken to Betting Lounge about the keys to victory and a potential rematch.

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury

It feels like we are closer than ever, with the rumours over where the fight will take place, and who is promoting it making headlines daily. Eddie Hearn recently spoke to BoxingScene, clarifying rumours over the venue for the likely bout:

“There has been some murmuring of the fight taking place in the US,” Hearn told BoxingScene.

“The contract specifically states that the fight must take place in the UK. 

“Right now, there is no official confirmation.”

Joshua vs Fury: Jones Jr talks keys to victory

Looking ahead to the potential Joshua-Fury showdown, Jones Jr said:

“You’re looking to see how his mental dominance works. If he’s mentally dominant, then you know he’s ready to go into a big fight. If he’s not mentally dominant, then he’s not ready for Tyson Fury. Mental dominance is the look you see on his face from round one until whatever round it takes to end it. I started dominating before the weigh-in. 

“My mental dominance set in before the weigh-in, and I tried to dominate all the way up until the last bell rang. Against Jake Paul, his dominance showed up at that last weigh-in, at that last press conference. His dominance finally showed up. I said, ’Now we’ve got something.’ And it lasted throughout the night. So if it happens the same way this time, if his mental dominance shows up right away and it lasts to the end, then we know we’ve got something.”

Jones Jr looks to Prenga fight

Looking ahead to AJ vs Prenga, and the significance of that fight on the Fury bout, Jones said:

“Sometimes you’re only as good as your opponent, so we can’t judge him by this fight.  It’s a different outlook and a different mindset when you know you’re fighting a top guy than when you’re fighting a guy with a padded record. He may look good and knock the guy right out, or the guy may come in and fight above his head and make Joshua have to work for it. But at the end of the day, Joshua should still beat him, and it doesn’t matter how Joshua looks.

We’ve been waiting for the Joshua-Fury fight for so long that we don’t care how Joshua looks. As long as he wins, let’s just get these two guys in front of each other.”

Roy Jones Jr on whether we’ll need a Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury rematch

Discussing Joshua-Fury and a possible rematch, Jones Jr said:

“It depends, because what if it’s a very good fight, a very competitive fight, and it’s close? We all want to see it again. We’re going to want to see two out of three. But if somebody blasts somebody, or somebody completely dominates somebody, we’re just going to say, Okay, well, he was better than him. We kind of thought that, but we didn’t know. Now we know, and that’s good. If it’s a great fight, we all want to see it again. If it’s a dominating performance by one guy or the other, we don’t have to see it again.”

Featured Image Credit:

Mark Robinson/Goldstar Promotions