Anthony Joshua salutes ‘gladiators’ Wilder and Fury, leaves world guessing what’s next

The current WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua [COURTESY]

The current WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua paid his respects to counterparts Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury following the intense fight on Saturday.

The ‘Bronze Bomber’ and the ‘Gypsy king faced off for the second time at the MGM Garden Las Vegas, where Fury got his revenge – winning by TKO in the seventh round.

On his Instagram, Joshua posted pictures of the fighters, captioning both “Gladiator”. On his posts, you could hear Fela Kuti’s jam, ‘Beasts of No Nation’ in the background.

Joshua's Instagram post [COURTESY]

Brief history of Fela Kuti’s song: ‘Beasts of No Nation’

Fela Anikulapo Kuti was a Nigerian musician recognized for being the pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre as well as a human rights activist. ‘Beasts of No Nation’ was an album created in 1989. Beast of No Nation is the first song Fela wrote following his liberation from prison after serving two years from a five-year prison sentence.

Joshua vs Fury: The fight the world wants to see.

The world could be treated to a boxing spectacle if the fight between Joshua and Fury were to materialise.

Both men have expressed their desire to challenge for the heavyweight championship and promoter Eddie Hearn has promised to pull all stops to see the fight happen.

Fury has been touted as the clear favourite ahead of his compatriot.

The ‘Bronze Bomber’ and the ‘Gypsy king faced off for the second time at the MGM Garden Las Vegas, where Fury got his revenge – winning by TKO in the seventh round [COURTESY]

His show of brute force to dethrone the Wilder as WBC champion shook the world, considering Wilder had downed him twice in their previous meeting in December 2018, in a fight that ended in a tie.

Fury’s abilities were never in doubt. In their first fight, he had put up a boxing master-class, dominating the fight right from the bell. Even though, he suffered two knock-downs in the hands of the American, many were left with the feeling he deserved to win the fight.

In the run up to the rematch, the self-styled ‘Gypsy King’ had promised a brawl, which he amply delivered, forcing Wilder’s corner to throw in the towel.

His resilience that saw him, then rather unfit owing to a long absence from the sport, get up from a devastating 12^th round knockdown in their first encounter was on display again as he seemed to soak up Wilder’s punches without much trouble.

This has many believing that Joshua wouldn’t stand a chance against him. His promoter, Hearn, recently remarked that he would be the “underdog” in the fight.

“Very rarely will you see AJ go into any fight as the underdog but this time, you look at the betting markets, AJ is the underdog against Tyson Fury. Perfect – just how we want it. We believe we’ve got the man who can be the undisputed heavyweight world champion. Tyson Fury believes he can beat Anthony Joshua. Only one way to find out – let’s make it happen,” said Hearn.

Fela Kuti's cover 'Beasts of No Nation [COURTESY]

Any boxing enthusiast knows that Joshua cannot be underestimated. His seven-year professional career has proven that. Save for his surprise defeat to Andy Ruiz in June 2019, he has consistently dispatched opponents with relative ease.

His first bout with Mexican-American Ruiz exposed some weaknesses that the Brit had previously successfully brushed off as he collected wins against formidable opponents. His poor head movement and counter-punching skills landed him into the path of Ruiz’s free-flying punches.

Looking back, that may have been a fluke, given his redemption in the December 2019 rematch where he put up a master-class of his own.

Both Joshua and Fury can box, and both have shown that they can take in punches. And while Joshua’s defeat to Ruiz cast doubt on whether he could withstand power punches, his bouts against Vladmir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin and Dillian Whyte prove that he can brawl.

His win against Klitschko in 2017 perhaps asserted his credentials as a fighter, coming up from a devastating round six knockdown, after he had sent the Ukrainian down in the fifth.

He served the Ukrainian two knockdowns of his own in the 11^th round and earned a stoppage after his barrage of punches went unanswered.

Fury had a showdown of his own with the Ukrainian two years earlier and made an impressive account of himself to outscore him.

And even though it wouldn’t be fair to compare the records of Joshua and Fury against Klitschko, their fights provide some insight of a probable encounter between the two.

The last time an undisputed title fight was staged was in 1999 when Lennox Lewis defeat Evander Holyfield to bag bragging rights. An undisputed fight would definitely be the fight of the decade but fans would have to wait until 2021 if Wilder were to activate his rematch clause.

Joshua, too, has some pending business with title defences against mandatory challengers Oleksandr Usyk and Kubrat Pulev for the WBO and IBF titles respectively in the pipeline.