Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will both retire from boxing this year.
That’s according to British legend Johnny Nelson, who feels the pair are both on the wane amid talk of a potential showdown.
For years, rumours have suggested that Fury and Joshua will meet in the ring. However, nothing has ever materialised – much to the frustration of fans around the world.
Nelson, speaking to Boxing News, has now provided his verdict on the pair.
Boxing news: Johnny Nelson thinks both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will retire this year
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And the 58-year-old has expressed a belief that both men will hang up their gloves this year because they’ll lack the desire of years gone by.
“I think it’s the only fight for them both because these guys have both been at the top level of the heavyweight division,” he said.
“Even though financially they are spot on, they are in the position they want to be, they don’t want to be in the position to get turned over by anyone less than each other now.
“For AJ and for Tyson, the biggest purse out there is for each other, the biggest risk is anybody else.”
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He then added: “I expect them both to have retired by the end of this year.
“I expect that because they have reached the highest of the heights, you look at the position they are in away from boxing compared to everybody else, they are in a great position.
“You look at the best fight that is going to best out of them, and that’s each other, anything less and it devalues their stock.”
While fans would love to see Fury and Joshua face each other, both men’s stock has fallen over the past year.
Fury went into 2024 unbeaten as a professional but has since crashed to two consecutive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
As for Joshua, he was brutally beaten by Daniel Dubois last time out during their showdown at Wembley in September.
AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has told The Stomping Ground that a fight between Fury and his client can happen ‘immediately’ – so long as they’re both keen.
He does admit, however, that he’s unsure if a bout will ever take place.
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“It’s the fight that everyone wants. Tell me a bigger fight? There isn’t one,” he said.
“I don’t know if it’s going to happen.
“There have been no discussions. Fury’s coming off that defeat and after his break, he’s going to decide what he wants to do.
“If he wants to fight AJ, the fight happens immediately. We’ll see.”
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Hearn is, however, in no rush to contact Fury – who is still licking his wounds following his defeat to Usyk last month.
“I don’t think it’s the time to start prodding Tyson Fury,” he continued.”Don’t forget, he lost on December 21, so give him a few weeks to chill out.
“Sooner or later, in the coming weeks, we will want to put a plan together for Anthony Joshua.
“That is when the conversations will come with Frank Warren, Spencer Brown [Fury’s manager] and His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] and say, ‘we want to make AJ-Fury – what do you think? We’ll go from there.”