Before belts are on the line, fighting in front of sold-out arenas, elite fighters may meet in the middle of the ring in sparring sessions with only coaches and teammates watching as their boxer tests their might against a fellow prospect. These gym battles are part of an unwritten code that is not to be promoted or released. What happens in the gym stays in the gym.
Sometimes footage gets out to the public because of a new rivalry or betrayal, as we recently saw with Floyd Mayweather Jr, who released an unflattering sparring tape of his former fighter Gervonta Davis looking subpar against a younger Devin Haney. Now, the latest gossip surrounding a sparring session between two young killers involves former heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, who shared a ring back in 2010.
Anthony Joshua Spars Tyson Fury
Prior to fame and money the two champions sparred each other in a small boxing club
The first mention of this famous sparring session was in 2010, when Tyson Fury joined BBC Radio to talk about a talented, super-heavyweight 20-year-old boxer, who we later found out was Joshua, of course. ‘AJ’ was in the midst of getting ready for his incredible Olympic run, at gold which he accomplished in the 2012 London Games. Fury talked gushingly about a young Joshua:
14 years later and with many millions of dollars made, this sparring session has once again found its way into the headlines, but what makes it so much more unique this time around is that the two men are so close to actually fighting each other in what would be one of the highest grossing fights of all-time. Joshua talked with host James Corden about the sparring rounds and filled us in on more details including a knockout bet:
“This guy called Tyson Fury, I had no idea who he was, comes out into the gym and the word on the street was that Tyson said he is the best heavyweight and that if anyone knocks him out, they get his Rolex watch. I’m looking at the cash, I said ‘Rolex yeah? Let’s go!’. “The bell goes, we go at it. I think that we sparred about three or four rounds. Even Tyson actually, he did an interview promoting [a] fight saying, ‘There is this kid called Anthony Joshua, I sparred him down at Finchley Boxing Club and I will tell you what, he is [red] hot. I believe that he is going to go on and do great things, he hit me with a shot and nearly took my head off’. After that, the praise stopped because I was on his coattails, so I started chasing him up the division. That fight has never been so close.”
Clash of Styles and Body Types
Tyson Fury’s skill been one of the greatest
Tyson Fury is not shy about poking fun at his own physique and habits. The ‘Gypsy King’ has gone as far as taking us down the dark rabbit hole at his lowest point post-Wladimir Klitschko victory in 2015, but generally, the jolly giant is very jovial and self-deprecating as seen in this weigh in video prior to his fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou:
Joshua consistently carries himself with a very suave and cool manner, but Fury, on the other hand, has no problem speaking with a nasty tongue. A couple of years ago, Fury lit up Joshua with some choice verbiage over a failed negotiation attempt:
What’s Next For Joshua and Fury
The final few months of the year will have two fights that’ll shape the heavyweight landscape
Before Turki Alalshikh led the charge of this boxing renaissance, that Fury video would’ve been a death sentence for the Joshua fight, but with the Saudi businessman’s heavy influence, it may be just a matter of time before this epic fight actually happens. Both men have huge fights already lined up.
The timetable for these two boxers is slated as such; Joshua is scheduled to face Daniel Dubois on 21 September at Wembley Stadium for Riyadh Season’s first ever event in the UK, while Fury is set to rematch Oleksandr Usyk for undisputed status once again on 21 December. Something tells me that these goliaths of heavyweight boxing will finally meet in 2025, and we may hear a bit more about this 2010 sparring session when it’s all said and done.
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