THE BOOKIES SEE this weekend’s big heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte as a foregone conclusion, but the brains behind Tyson Fury’s world-title success is not so sure.
Peter Fury, trainer and uncle to recently-crowned champ Tyson, was the man in the corner who masterminded last month’s victory over long-reigning title holder Wladimir Klitschko and he believes that Whyte should not be dismissed as another pushover opponent for Joshua.
“If Dillian is in fantastic shape, boxes and feels his way in behind the jab then it’s a genuine 50-50 fight. I can’t pick a winner because these guys both want it just as much and both want to win more than anything,” said Fury.
It all depends on how Dillian is prepared for this fight. If he comes in 100% then it’s six and two threes.
“We know Dillian is tough so if it comes to an exchange of blows… Dillian has a good chin… it would be wrong of me to say ‘Can Joshua take a shot?’ but he hasn’t taken one, so the jury is out,” added the trainer.
Sky Box Office will screen the pay-per-view meeting of Joshua and Whyte as they clash for the vacant British and Commonwealth titles in front of a sellout crowd at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday.
Olympic champion Joshua has yet to be taken past the third round in 14 fights and the bookies rank him as a 1/18 favourite to avenge a loss against his old rival Whyte (16-0), who defeated the 26-year-old from Watford back in their amateur days.
Whyte puts Joshua on the canvas en route to victory in the amateurs
Fury, meanwhile, has earned much praise for moulding his nephew from a wreckless giant into a disciplined, tactical fighter and champion of the world, and the trainer has seen enough in Whyte to see him succeed as a pro.
“He’s a tough kid, he comes forward. He’s got a good jab and he needs to use it. It all depends on how his preparation has been going into this fight,” said Fury.
We’ve had Dillian Whyte in sparring with us, but sparring is not actually fighting and neither of them [Whyte or Joshua] has really been tested so it’s going to be a very good fight. I do think Dillian has not a decent chin, he looks that type of a fighter.
Whatever way the fight goes, Fury dismisses claims that the winner should be in line for a shot at his nephew’s world title.
“It’s way too early – they’re talking about these guys for world titles – they’re not ready… they could get a big shock,” said the trainer.
You’ve only got to look at [WBC champion] Deontay Wilder. He blew everybody away and then all of a sudden they stepped him up and he couldn’t blow anybody away.
“This is where it stands – it’s a hype machine for Joshua,” added Fury, who make a convincing argument for the winner of the Joshua-Whyte fight to gain some more experience before mounting a world-title tilt.
“If this is a gruelling fight, it’ll be good for both because they’ll know what it’s about and they can move on to the next level,” said the trainer, who is also father and mentor of heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (18-0).
When you’ve got a fighter coming back to the corner after seven rounds and the guy [his opponent] is hitting him with everything… he’s got to have it in his heart to push on when he’s tired or his arms hurt him or he can’t feel his hands.
“They need to go through all of this because some guys will panic… You won’t know what a guy’s like until he’s put under that extreme pressure,” added Fury on prospects such as Joshua and Whyte.
