Klitschko backs Joshua to beat Fury in potential bout

By Olaolu Joseph

If there is one fighter that can offer an accurate prediction on a showdown between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, it’s Wladimir Klitschko.

The Ukrainian boxing icon fought Fury in November 2015, as ‘The Gypsy King’ dethroned Klitschko in a coming of age performance to capture the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles.

Klitschko returned to the ring to face ‘AJ’ two years later in a historic battle at Wembley Stadium. ‘Dr Steelhammer’ pushed Joshua all the way, even dropping the Brit before being stopped in the penultimate round of their bout.

Rumours of a fight between Fury and Joshua have began to intensify over the last couple of weeks, after ‘The Gypsy King’ failed to avenge his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch last month.

Speaking to Sky Sports after his win over Joshua, the Ukrainian gave his backing to ‘AJ’ in a potential showdown with his former rival, saying he will ‘hands down’ win the fight.

‘The Gypsy King’ attempted to regain the world heavyweight championship less than a month ago when he clashed with Usyk in Riyadh for the second time.

After another cagey 12-rounds which many felt could have gone either way, it was the former undisputed heavyweight king who was given the nod on the scorecards, with all three judges scoring it 116-112 in favour of the Ukrainian.

‘AJ’ is also coming off a shock defeat to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois, suffering a devastating fifth round knockout at Wembley Stadium in September.