Former WBC heavyweight world champion Frank Bruno has shared his thoughts ahead of the planned ‘Battle of Britain’ between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury later this year, in what is expected to be the biggest clash in the history of British boxing.
Bruno looked set to be the man to break Britain’s heavyweight hoodoo, with the United Kingdom not producing a champion in the division during the 20th century, at the point when ‘True Brit’ was in serious contention during the 1980’s.
However, Bruno was instead knocked out by Tim Witherspoon and Mike Tyson in two title challenges, before Lennox Lewis became the nation’s first heavyweight world champion since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1899, when he was elevated to champion in 1992.
The following year, Lewis and Bruno met deemed in a showdown billed as ‘The Battle of Britain’, as Bruno came up short in a third world title challenge, but eventually got his hands on the heavyweight crown in 1995.
That duo kickstarted a new era, with a plethora of Briton’s heavyweights becoming world champion in the years that have followed. Now, 33 years on from Lewis-Bruno, a duo of two-time rulers are poised to collide in a blockbuster at Wembley Stadium and Bruno told Seconds Out that Joshua’s mentality will prove decisive.
“Anthony Joshua, I don’t know what sort of head he is coming in with. If he comes in and he fancies the job, he is a dangerous guy and he can punch hard. They know each other and I hope that it is a good fight and that the best man wins because I like Tyson Fury and I like Anthony Joshua, as well.
I think it’s a good move [Joshua training with Usyk]. That’s all good experience for Anthony Joshua. Joshua has everything, he looks like a gorilla and he can punch a tree trunk down if he believes in himself, but if he doesn’t believe in himself then Tyson Fury [can cause problems]. If he’s in the right frame of mind then I don’t see him having a problem.”
For Joshua-Fury to take place, ‘AJ’ must first dispatch of Albania’s Kristian Prenga, who he fights on Saturday, July 25, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.