Anthony Ogogo backs Fury to conquer Joshua, opens up on BLM backlash

Planet Sport writerStaff Writer15 June 2020
Anthony Ogogo celebrates after beating Frane Radnic

Anthony Ogogo celebrates after beating Frane Radnic

2012 Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo has backed Tyson Fury to beat Anthony Joshua - as long as he is at his best.

Fury and Joshua are set to face off in two highly-anticipated fights next year if they win their scheduled bouts against Deontay Wilder and Kubrat Pulev, respectively. 

“AJ” holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles while Fury snared the WBC and Ring Magazine straps from Wilder in February to add to his lineal championship. If things go according to plan, it’ll be the first time in boxing history two Britons collide for all of the heavyweight belts. 

Despite the WBC informing Dillian Whyte that he’ll finally get his chance to challenge for the famous green-and-gold title by February 2021, a unification between Fury and Joshua would override his mandatory status. 

Now, Anthony Ogogo – who was a member of Team GB along with Joshua at the London Olympics, winning the bronze medal in the middleweight division – believes the Gypsy King has the tools to down the Finchley ABC product. 

Ogogo told Sky Sports: “I’ve trained with both guys. I was on a great, winning team with Fury and Joshua.
“So, I know both guys well. I’ve seen them in training, up close and personal.
“That’s a tremendous fight; that’s a brilliant fight. I think that’s probably the biggest fight in British boxing history.
“Two heavyweights, at their prime. It’s not a Lennox [Lewis] vs [Frank] Bruno, where Lennox was on the way up and Bruno had kind of been there.
“It’s two heavyweights, both world champions. That’s a brilliant fight.
“It’s an amazing fight. It doesn’t get any bigger than that.

“If the best Fury turns up, I think he beats the best Joshua. But Fury’s got to be at his best.”

Future wrestling star opens up on BLM backlash

Ogogo, who retired from professional boxing in 2019 because of a severe eye injury, has taken a prominent stance in fighting for racial equality recently.
The 31-year-old claimed he has lost as many as 500 followers on Twitter for posting messages supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement.
He explained: “On my Twitter page on the last month, I’ve been posting – not over the top, but every day, now and then – I’ll post a Black Lives Matter thing.
“And again, I’m not saying that other lives don’t matter. I’m saying black lives matter equally – like a white life, like a Chinese life, like a whatever life.
“And I’ve lost 500 followers in the last month, because people obviously don’t agree.
“Listen, I don’t give a monkey, they can go. I don’t want them to follow me if they’re even one per cent racist.
“But that’s a fact. People get so upset by saying we’re all the same.
“We might look different, but we’re all the same underneath our skin. Therefore, each life should be valued the same.
“People have been that upset that I’ve had 500 people unfollow me? That’s ridiculous. I find it so weird.”

By Samuel Bannister, follow Sam on Twitter @SamBanno1