Former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye believes the mindset and athletic prowess of Anthony Joshua will prevail in his long-awaited undisputed title clash against Tyson Fury.
With the battle of British heavyweight champions reportedly set to take place in Saudi Arabia in the summer, after long and laborious negotiations, Haye has tipped WBA Super, WBO and IBF king Joshua to trump WBC counterpart Fury in a bout that is set to captivate the boxing world and beyond.
Fury-Joshua is tentatively scheduled for July 24, with a contracted second fight pencilled in for the end of 2021.
“Joshua will win the fight. His loss against Andy Ruiz taught him a valuable lesson about complacency and believing your own hype,” Haye told Sky Sports.
“I think Fury is flying so high after his victory in Las Vegas [WTKO7 Deontay Wilder in February] and believes he is unbeatable. For good reason – if I were him, I’d think so, too.
“Joshua has tasted defeat and will have a different mindset. He is so athletically gifted, an Olympic gold medallist who has had so many world title fights, he is newer to the game and is still learning. I think that Fury believes he is the finished article. Whereas Joshua doesn’t – he is learning. Fury has been celebrating for a long time.
“This isn’t a bodybuilding competition but I like the mindset and discipline of Joshua. In the long-term of a physical game like boxing, the dedication and nutrition of Joshua [will see him through]. He is an underdog but I like the underdog.
“Joshua is physically superior. If they did any sport outside of boxing, Joshua would win. A boxing match is skill-based and people believe Fury’s skills supersede Joshua’s.
“But the skilled boxer doesn’t always win. The boxer with speed, endurance, will to win, strategy, who has trained correctly? There a million elements that go into winning a boxing match but people ignore everything except skills.”