JOE JOYCE has made a U-turn in his Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight prediction.
The pair of British heavyweight rivals are closing in on a deal for December 3 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Joe Joyce backs Tyson Fury to beat Anthony Joshua
Joyce has an inside track, having sparred the pair in the past and at one point favoured former Team GB training partner Joshua, 32.
But following a public fallout with AJ, which coincided with two losses to Oleksandr Usyk, 35, his prediction has changed.
Joyce, 36, told talkSPORT: “I originally thought AJ would do the business but I’m definitely favouring Fury.
“Just because of his boxing ability. But I still think it’s a great fight and Joshua has a puncher’s chance, as always.
“He has very damaging punching power and if he goes on the offensive, it will be a very exciting fight.
“But it’s down to Fury. He can box on the back foot, he can switch. If he goes at him, he can stop Joshua.”
Fury, 34, surprisingly turned his attention to Joshua after Usyk ruled himself out of an undisputed bout to nurse an injury.
And AJ has since conceded to a 60/40 split for a shot at the WBC title with official paperwork to be sent his way.
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON HORSE RACING
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren said: “The contracts are on their way.
“But I’m not going into great detail about this because we saw what happened last time round with people making statements and so forth and it all fell apart.
“This fight won’t be on until it’s signed, but everybody wants it to happen.
“There aren’t any obstacles in the way, so hopefully very quickly we can get it over the line, but until it’s signed, it’s not on.
“When you’re a promoter, you’re an optimist. That’s what you do. You’re in the business of trying to make events happen, so we’re all excited about it.
“I’m excited about it as a fight because I always felt that Tyson has the beating of AJ and now we’re gonna find out if we get this over the line.”
Anthony Joshua next to ex-sparring partner Joe Joyce
