I was on TV show with Lennox Lewis when young Anthony Joshua met Tyson Fury, we all believed in AJ but had doubts about Gypsy King

20/02/2024 11:50

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury’s rivalry dates back further than many boxing fans realise.

The pair started out as friends and first met for a famous sparring session in 2010, when the already-pro Fury praised amateur-at-the-time AJ for his talents.

Two years later, Joshua won Olympic gold at London 2012 and prepared to turn professional himself in 2013.

Just before he did so though, he appeared on a Sky Sports ‘Gloves Are Off’ programme hosted by Johnny Nelson alongside a host of top British heavyweight names, including Fury.

The two active fighters were joined by legends Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and Scott Welch, who gave them advice on their careers.

Lewis and Bruno are of course former heavyweight world champions, whereas Welch was a respected contender and British champion in the 1990s but never conquered world honours.

Reflecting on this filming over a decade later, Welch told ProBoxingFans: “It was very cool, very cool.

“They were all friends, all of them. It was a great bunch.”

In the years since, Fury has remained undefeated and established himself as the best heavyweight in the world, with the opportunity to cement that status when he fights Oleksandr Usyk on May 18.

While Joshua has also proved himself as a world class champion, he’s now been beaten three times, including twice at the hands of Usyk.

Interestingly though, at the time this programme was filmed, Welch has revealed that the feeling in the room was that AJ had the brighter future.

“I think at the time even I wasn’t sure,” Welch continued, “I think at the time Fury was coming off the fights with John McDermott so he hadn’t really proven himself.

“Amazing career and amazing man to achieve what he’s achieved, incredible.

“But did we think it was gonna happen then? Well, I think we thought it was all about AJ.

“He was the Golden Boy coming through, and he did, he came through and he proved to everyone he was the real deal.

“Unfortunately he got beat further along in his career, but he put that right and he’s still there now.

“It’s heavyweight boxing, what can I say? It’s a wonderful game, and anything can happen in this game.

“One minute you’re up, the next minute you’re down, you’ve just got to ride with it.

“Somebody’s not wrote off because they’ve had one defeat, but you have to come back and prove yourself again.

“I believe he has proved himself, but he really needs to prove himself in a big shoot-out probably.

“And then everyone will go, ‘Yeah, he’s back.'”

Joshua will next fight Francis Ngannou on March 8.