TYSON FURY must beat Anthony Joshua in order to become the greatest heavyweight boxer of his generation.
That is the opinion of former European (EBU) super bantamweight champion and Commonwealth silver medallist Spencer Oliver.
AFPTyson Fury has been told he must beat Anthony Joshua to be considered No1[/caption]
Mark Robinson Matchroom BoxingThis is despite Oleksandr Usyk beating AJ twice[/caption]
Fury was in line to fight Oleksandr Usyk on April 29 before the talks fell through, with Usyk saying he could see “nothing is going on” with regard to negotiations.
The fight would have certainly cemented Fury’s case, given how it would have unified the heavyweight division for the first time since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
However, speaking to talkSPORT, Oliver said a bout with Joshua is “the biggest out there”.
He said: “I think fighting AJ is the biggest fight out there. I think it’s the biggest fight in the heavyweight division right now, that is the one.
“AJ vs Fury is a fight we’ve all wanted to see and it’s a huge fight and I think that’s a fight that [Fury] would like, because it’s all about legacy.
“To cement your legacy in the modern era you have to box everybody and AJ is a huge name in that heavyweight division.
“So, Fury needs that name on his record if he wants to be known as the number one heavyweight of this modern era.
“I think it’s a fight that would whet his appetite even more than Usyk.”
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Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, also added: “I don’t know [about the fight], that’s up to Tyson.
“I have no problem with it, but it’s up to Tyson. We’ll obviously see what happens with Joshua next week. I think it’s a much bigger fight than Usyk.”
AJ recently got back to winning ways with a unanimous decision win over Jermaine Franklin.
After the win, he then called out Fury for a summer showdown.
There were talks for a “Battle of Britain” showdown last year, but like Usyk the negotiations eventually collapsed.
And now AJ is fearing the “nightmare” negotiation process for a fight between himself and Fury.