'Tyson Fury is slowing down massively' – Carl Froch explains why we may never see Anthony Joshua vs The Gypsy King

13/02/2024 18:22

Carl Froch doesn't think we'll see Tyson Fury box Anthony Joshua.

'The Gypsy King' recently excited fans by revealing his five-fight plan includes two scraps with Oleksandr Usyk, two clashes with Joshua, and a rematch with Francis Ngannou.

However, Froch believes Fury is no longer the boxer he used to be and will find it hard to fight five times against some of the best heavyweights on the planet.

In fact, 'The Cobra' doubts Fury will ever get around to facing AJ.

"I don't think we'll even get one fight with Anthony Joshua," Froch told Spencer Oliver and Simon Jordan on the latest episode of the talkBOXING podcast.

"The fact that he is talking about five fights and is now 35 years old and he fights once a year. He's heading towards 40 years old, he struggles to get the weight off and is up and down mentally."

Froch has been forensically examining Fury's recent fights, which have included a shocking knockdown against Ngannou and several less-surprising floor touches during his trilogy with Deontay Wilder.

He added: "Regardless of what Tyson says – I'll hit you with some facts and statistics – he's slowing down massively. He used to throw 50 feints a round, always throwing feints, light on his feet with fast hands.

"He doesn't even throw 15 feints [now]. I've sat and watched it and marked it down like a saddo, like a geek, like a tech geek. And I've been marking down and watching him, he's slowing down, he's on the slide.

"He's been on the floor five times in his last 70 rounds of boxing… the big problem is he's getting hit a lot more now, and when you start getting hit at that weight you've got problems.

"Now, he's sitting flat-footed, not throwing feints, getting hit with more shots, going on 36 years old and he's getting bigger and heavier. The desire is not there, we saw that in the Netflix show.

"So, has he got five more fights left with these top contenders? I'd say no."

Fury is currently prepared to fight Usyk for all the heavyweight belts on May 18 after a cut the Englishman suffered in sparring delayed their matchup, which was originally scheduled for this weekend.

Joshua will face Ngannou on March 8, and the winner is expected to move on to fight Fury or Usyk when their proposed two-fight series is over.

Only time will tell if everything will play out as planned, or if Froch will be proven right and the biggest fight in British boxing history will never come to fruition.