Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury look set to do battle in one of Britain's biggest-ever world boxing championship fights in 2021, provided Joshua gets past Kubrat Pulev and Fury avoids defeat to Deontay Wilder this winter.
And with the superfight — which was agreed to in principle by both parties earlier this year with details yet to be committed to paper — edging ever closed to reality, Talksport this week were able to sit down with the two key men in negotations to get their thoughts on how the showdown will pan out.
Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn represents Joshua, while Frank Warren is Fury's U.K. manager at Queensberry Promotions. The two revealed earlier this month that they would meet up for the very first time to discuss the possibility of staging more crosspromotional battles beyond Joshua vs. Fury.
But when pressed by the British sports radio station, they went beyond simply backing their own fighter to win the bout and offered insight from their years of boxing expertise as they broke down the anticipated contest.
“I am gonna say, of course, that AJ wins that fight," said Hearn in an interview with Alex McCarthy. “And it’s a very tough fight, a very tricky fight, but honestly hand on heart I believe he knocks out Tyson Fury.
“He’s not gonna be standing off Tyson Fury like Deontay Wilder did. He’s gonna be inside, he’s gonna be roughing him up. People don’t realise how good AJ is at fighting on the inside. People don’t realise how strong he is on the inside, he’s super sharp.
“Technically he’s not Deontay Wilder, we know that technically Fury’s very difficult and awkward, but AJ’s not Deontay Wilder. He’s not gonna be fiddled around like this.
“But he has to get in close, rough him up, close the distance, land the shots, and that’s easier said than done.
“The amount of times I’ve written off Tyson Fury — against [Wladimir] Klitschko I thought he had no chance. Against Wilder in the first fight I thought he had no chance, against Wilder in the second fight I expected him to get knocked out.
“So he’s proved me wrong and wrong and wrong. But now AJ’s got to prove him wrong. And he’s got to overcome him and win the fight. It’s gonna be very difficult, it is a 50-50 fight, but I honestly believe my man wins by knockout.”
Warren, meanwhile, made an appearance on the White and Jordan show on the station.
He said: “I just think Tyson — well, I know — is a better all-round fighter. He’s got better movement, he’s faster, he’s got a better jab.
“Tyson can punch, he’s knocked a lot of people over, you’ve seen what he did against Wilder. And I think he’s got a lot better chin, as you can see when he got off the floor against Wilder.
“I thought he was gone. That last round, that was like RoboCop — a spark in the eye and he got up. I don’t know how on earth he did it, but he did it.”