In December, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will go toe-to-toe in a long-awaited clash in Cardiff, and highly-respected trainer Adam Booth has shared his thoughts on the battle, which he believes will no last longer than six rounds.
Since adopting the aggressive ‘Kronk’ style and appointing SugarHill Steward as his trainer, fans have witnessed Fury completely change his approach to boxing, moving on from the defence-first style that saw him defeat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 and seeing him box on the front-foot with more regularity.
Despite becoming more fan-friendly, ‘The Gypsy King’ has only registered one victory within six rounds in his nine contests under Steward’s tutelage – that being a sixth-round stoppage of Dillian Whyte back in 2022.
As for Joshua, 27 of his 30 wins have come by knockout, 20 of them inside the opening six rounds, the latest of them in July when he recovered from two first round knockdowns to stop Kristian Prenga in the second round.
With that in mind, Booth – who trains reigning IBF super-welterweight champion Josh Kelly – told Ring Magazine that he cannot see the blockbuster clash between Fury and Joshua lasting more than six rounds, one way or the other.
“I don’t think that it will go past six rounds. I actually hope it doesn’t go past six rounds because sometimes, when you have got an aggressive, strong-punching fighter in front of you and you give up too much ground, they build up too much momentum.
“So, by stepping to him right from the start, it could be his [Fury’s] best form of aggressive defence. If he does do that, it will definitely give us an exciting fight as long as it lasts.”
Fury-Joshua is set to take place on Friday, December 11, at the Principality Stadium, with Manny Pacquiao poised to feature in the co-main event of the bill.
