Johnny Nelson has considered whether this current version of Anthony Joshua is capable of stopping Tyson Fury, whose most likely route to victory, he feels, is on points.
The pair are set to collide in a long-awaited heavyweight showdown later this year, just so long as they both win their respective warm-up fights.
It has already been confirmed that Joshua will face Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 25, while Fury’s next outing is expected to take place on August 1.
One rumoured opponent is unbeaten 41-year-old Nelson Hysa, who ‘The Gypsy King’ could end up facing on the undercard of Pierce O’Leary vs Mark Chamberlain at Dublin’s 3Arena.
This would be just a few months removed from Fury’s comeback fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov, who he unanimously outpointed in his first contest since suffering a second points defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024.
Joshua, meanwhile, has not fought since last December, when he was involved in a tragic car crash that followed his sixth-round finish over Jake Paul.
Since then, the 36-year-old has been mourning the passing of his two close friends while recovering from his own physical injuries, making it difficult to predict what version of ‘AJ’ will show up against Fury.
Speaking with Froch On Fighting, former world champion Nelson said Joshua must be somewhere near his best in order to defeat his British rival.
“If it’s on points, I’d go Fury. If it’s inside the distance, I’d go Anthony Joshua. It depends on what version of AJ turns up.
“If I’m saying top tier [of] both fighters, I’m saying AJ stops him [or] Fury wins on points. If AJ comes out, and AJ’s like a bit off [his best], he gets done. And he doesn’t lose on points – he gets knocked out – so it’s a case of what version of AJ turns up and what version of Tyson Fury turns up.
“Right now, the version we’ve got is not the version we had five years ago.”
Around five years ago, Joshua was coming off a ninth-round finish over Kubrat Pulev while gearing up for his first encounter with Usyk, which he ultimately lost by unanimous decision.