Former heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, has shifted his prediction for next week’s Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul showdown, now backing the YouTuber-turned-boxer to last the full eight rounds.
Joshua and Paul are set to clash in a sanctioned heavyweight bout in Miami next Friday.
The fight will run for eight three-minute rounds, with both men wearing 10oz gloves.
Many expect Joshua to dispatch Paul early, likely within two rounds, but Fury had previously suggested the opposite, claiming Paul could spring a shock stoppage.
“I don’t know about [it being a] tune-up, I think Jake Paul knocks him out. I think that AJ is a spent force, and I think Jake Paul is on the rise,” Fury said earlier this year. “I like his new heavyweight look. He is a bit chubby, a bit bulky, he is getting there.”
But speaking to OOOsch TV (via Mirror), Fury has now changed tone, predicting the fight will reach the final bell with Joshua edging it. “I think it will go the distance,” he said. “I think it will be a move around and a points job, absolutely.”
His comments hint at the idea that Joshua might “carry” Paul through the eight rounds to prevent a damaging finish, but Joshua has already dismissed such talk, insisting nothing in the contract requires him to ease up.
“I haven’t seen that part but no, there is no clause,” he told TMZ. “I heard he fought Mike Tyson in 140z gloves and that he was going to fight Gervonta in 12oz gloves and then he chose to fight me in 10oz gloves so… he wants to hurt me, I think he wants to take me out.
“I understand people’s concerns but they have to start believing in Jake. They don’t believe because they can’t get their head around how he beat those guys. How did he beat Anderson Silva, how did he beat Nate Diaz, how did he beat Mike Tyson? I’m telling you there is no stipulation in the contract where I have to take it easy.”
Fury, meanwhile, has been out of action since suffering a second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last December.
Although he announced his retirement the following month, he has since confirmed plans to re-enter the ring in 2026.
