Former world heavyweight champion David Haye says Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury must finally agree to fight.
Haye is a two-division world titlist and was the star of British heavyweight boxing before the rise of Joshua and Fury.
The former WBA heavyweight champion believes the time has come for Fury and Joshua to finally fight.
“That’s the biggest possible match for both of them. They should push it, they should push it, they must,” Haye told Sky Sports.
“They need each other, for different reasons because of their respective legacies. You have to say Anthony Joshua was in the same era as Tyson Fury, or vice versa, and they fought to decide who would win.”
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Fury and Joshua both lost their world titles to Oleksandr Usyk. Fury has just returned to boxing after a year off, while Joshua is returning to training after recovering from a car accident that killed two of his best friends.
Talks are underway for Fury and Joshua to fight this year, with Joshua likely to make his own preliminary fight first.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that he has received a contract to fight Fury and negotiations are currently underway.
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Haye admits that both boxers are past their fighting peak. But importantly, he said, “They didn’t fight in their prime, but we got to see it in the end. Just like Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao didn’t fight in their prime, (but) fought at their commercial peak. Now is probably their commercial peak.”
“They’ll probably make more money now than when it was first being talked about.”
Fury will prepare for his fight against Joshua in 12 rounds against Arslanbek Makhmudov.
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Tyson Fury grabbed a microphone and loudly challenged him to fight Anthony Joshua next, but his rival didn’t give him a clear answer.
“It’s a good stepping stone to the big guy that is Anthony Joshua,” Haye said.
“From Tyson Fury’s point of view, he chose an opponent who is the same size as Anthony Joshua: bigger, stronger, with a less fluid head movement and a vertical arm defense similar to AJ.
“He believes what he still has left in him, and what he believes he has, is more than enough to defeat Anthony Joshua. And that’s a huge fight that the fans want to see.”
