EXCLUSIVE
Anthony Joshua backed to beat Oleksandr Usyk and has ’50/50′ chance of beating Tyson Fury after Francis Ngannou win
Spencer Oliver believes Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury should fear a new version of Anthony Joshua.
AJ scored a brutal second round KO win over Francis Ngannou in their Saudi showdown to make it his fourth successive win since April 2023.
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Against Ngannou, it was an extremely dominant performance, which has left the boxing world salivating at the prospect of Joshua finally settling his rivalry with Fury.
He is set to be in line to face the winner of Fury's undisputed clash with Usyk according to Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority who has been staging the fights.
Although it will be a tough test for Joshua against Usyk given he has already lost twice to the current unified champion.
But on the latest episode of , Oliver told co-host Simon Jordan that the 2012 Olympic gold medallist should fancy his chances against the undefeated pair.
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He said: "I think if that third fight with Usyk was to happen now, then that this version of Anthony Joshua beats Usyk.
"This version of Anthony Joshua v Tyson Fury, that would be a great fight. It is now a 50/50 fight."
He went on to explain why Joshua's link up with trainer Ben Davison has influenced his claims.
"I contribute a lot of AJ's recent success to him, because a fighter needs to have that confidence to follow instructions. Ben Davison is a great study of the game, and he tactically always gets it right.
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"A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter, it seems like everything is right for him and we have seen that in his recent performances.
"There was talk of him fighting Tyson Fury twelve months ago, and you wouldn't even have had the conversation that he could beat him. You'd have said it was 90/10 in Fury's favour."
Anthony Joshua says he would fight Tyson Fury in his garden as he celebrates his win against Francis Ngannou at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Joshua had already started to turn heads after a commanding performance against Otto Wallin on December 23 last year, his first fight under the stewardship of Davison.
He has since confirmed that he will stick with Davison for his next outings in 2024, which could be a winning link up as he looks to become world champion again.
Joshua now has a raft of potential options for his next opponent including a fight for the IBF title against Filip Hrgovic.
If Fury and Usyk stick to their contracted two-fight deal, the winner will be forced to vacate, leaving AJ the chance to become three-time champion.
Joshua since losing to Usyk
Jermaine Franklin - April 1, 2023 - Victory by unanimous decision (points)
Robert Helenius - 12th August, 2023 - Round 7 KO
Otto Wallin - December 23, 2023 - Round 5 TKO
Francis Ngannou - March 8, 2023 - Round 2 KO
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