Carl Frampton: Fury v Joshua WILL happen!

Former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton has told William Hill’s Stripped Podcast that Tyson Fury will definitely fight Anthony Joshua before he retires.

Speaking to William Hill’s Stripped Podcast, a series in which ex-footballers and celebrities are invited to take a trip down memory lane by revisiting their favourite shirts, Frampton said: “I think Fury vs Joshua will happen at some point. You’ve got to remember there’s so much money still to be made in that fight.

“I know AJ suffered a couple of defeats recently, but that fight is a mega-fight, the money that can be generated is insane, so I think it’ll happen at some point. I don’t know when, but it’s going to happen.”

Frampton also noted that Joshua, who lost successive heavyweight bouts to Oleksandr Usyk in his most recent appearances, needs time away from the ring to regroup before considering the fight.

“I don’t know where AJ’s head is at currently,” said Frampton. “The guy’s got to be under so much pressure, he’s always in the spotlight with everybody talking about his career and what he should do and how he should fight. He’s got to be in a difficult situation, obviously we saw what happened in the ring after the Usyk defeat. I felt a bit sorry for him, I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing.

“I think he should get a trainer, whoever it may be, probably an American trainer, go to America where he isn’t as big a name as he is here, and just get his head down and focus on fighting. He’s had a couple of defeats now; he’s lost to Usyk twice and Andy Ruiz Jr as well.

“People have talked about whether he’s a bit gun-shy after the Ruiz defeat. Obviously he was knocked out by Ruiz, who’s short for a heavyweight. I think from that fight there’s an argument to be made that he’s become a little bit gun-shy and he’s just afraid to pull the trigger a wee bit in fear of getting knocked out again. He’s a proper athlete though, and he can come back.”

Fury vs Chisora will be better than Fury vs Whyte

Speaking ahead of Tyson Fury’s bout with Derek Chisora on Saturday, Frampton, who held both the WBA super-bantamweight and featherweight titles in 2016, claims that this weekend’s fight at Wembley will be of a higher quality than people expect.

He said: “This fight is going to be better than Fury vs Dillian Whyte, because Derek is so aggressive. He’s just brave, he’s game, he really tries to have a go, although it’s just hard for me to see a way in which he can win the fight.

“I think Derek is similar to Tyson in terms of how aggressive he is. In Tyson’s last fight against Dillian Whyte, I was really disappointed with Whyte’s performance. I thought Tyson was going to win the fight, but I didn’t think it would be as comfortable as it was, I was a bit disappointed with Dillian if I’m being honest.

“I think Fury will win the fight. He’s beaten him twice before, the second time was really comfortable for him, even thought it was a long time ago. I think they’re both different fighters now – Fury’s not as agile these days, he’s way more aggressive now than he was back then. He used to get up on his toes and move around and out-box people, but now he’s more ‘seek and destroy’.”