Interview: George Groves Claims Tyson Fury...

George Groves spoke to Action Network and previewed the possibility of Anthony Joshua facing Tyson Fury this year.

I = Interviewer
GG = George Groves

I: Tyson Fury, he’s going to make a comeback, right?

GG: I think he will come back and fight Anthony Joshua if there are guaranteed purses. If you are going to fight Joshua, then it has to be soon and maybe they will announce that fight straight after Usyk v Dubois and the winner will still dream of becoming world champion again. But I would like to see Tyson Fury do something different and get in the cage. I heard rumours of him fighting Francis Ngannou in the cage and that sounds brilliant, I would 100% pay for that. I’m all over that. He’s a very good athlete who can chop and change, let’s see if he can learn some wrestling or Jujitsu and a bit of defence before putting on some 4oz gloves on and see if he can put Ngannou away. Ngannou stepped into Fury’s domain and give him a run for his money and should’ve won but Fury got away with it. Let’s see if Fury can return the favour by jumping in the Octagon and have a scrap with Ngannou, that’s what I would like to see. Fury is past his best as a boxer, but he has not been sitting on the couch for six or seven years. He boxed less than a year ago, is a fit athlete and maybe he’s already been in the gym with the cage fighters and the MMA guys. I’d love to see him in the cage next.

I: Do you expect the fight to happen – Fury vs AJ?

GG: If it is going to happen, it has to happen this year they don’t want to be on the couch for too long. Anthony Joshua has just had surgery by all accounts so maybe it’s all done and dusted and is pre-agreed but there is no point announcing it too early. People will lose patience with it so let Joshua’s elbow recover and then it will (be a fight) which is tailored towards the end of the year maybe in Saudi Arabia. Maybe October or November but I won’t be surprised if they fight each other. It is a good fight, and people will be excited about it. it will settle the score and there’s a lot at stake for both guys. At certain times they were both the man, and it was like hero vs villain. Joshua was the hero, and Tyson was the villain and then it quickly turned, and it was the other way around. But they have now both been beaten and humbled by Usyk and Joshua has been beaten by Daniel Dubois, Fury didn’t look great against Francis Ngannou so there is a lot at stake for both guys because whoever wins that fight or two fights if they have signed for a rematch, can come out and say I was the best British fighter of this era or has ever been. That has a lot of value for a fighter’s pride. Tyson calls himself the Gypsy King, and the People’s Champion, and I bet he misses saying that. If he beats Joshua, he can go back to saying those sorts of things.

I: Who wins, and will it still sell big on PPV worldwide?

GG: I still think it’ll be a massive hit. It’ll be a massive hit in the UK but whether it is still colossal worldwide with the Americans (I’m not sure). If it was for all of the belts, then the Americans would be really invested in it whether they were Brits or not. It’s still a huge fight, they are heavyweights, huge names and the fact that the fight is not even set or announced, people are still talking about it. It will still get newspaper coverage, and it will always be a huge fight.

I don’t know how it goes; it depends on who has what left. There have been periods where people have said Tyson Fury will be too clever and slick and will beat Joshua. Others have said when Joshua is on it, he’s a force, punches too hard and will catch Fury. It’s now about who can get their temperament right, their tactics right and who has lasted the course the longest and does not have as many miles on the clock. I would rather they fought rather than not and would be disappointed if they retired not fighting each other. But I do think if they fight each other sooner rather than later. Their careers are both done in my opinion apart from fighting each other.