Boxing star Anthony Joshua 'is mentally broken' as Tyson Fury fight talk ramps up
Boxing star Anthony Joshua has been dubbed 'mentally broken' amid Tyson Fury fight talk
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Former boxer Mahmoud Charr thinks Anthony Joshua is 'mentally broken' amid talk of a potential fight with Tyson Fury.
Last week, Tony Bellew set tongues wagging when he claimed he'd heard rumours the two Brits were in talks over a lucrative showdown.
Both men do currently have other priorities, with Joshua looking to fight Deontay Wilder while Fury is preparing for an upcoming showdown with former UFC star Francis Ngannou.
And Charr, speaking to Seconds Out, has compared Joshua to Wladimir Klitschko while also saying Joshua is 'mentally broken'.
Anthony Joshua beat Robert Helenius in a boxing showdown last month
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"When [Klitschko] lost to Corey Sanders, he changed his style, he was not mentally strong, he was broken, and he waited many years to fight people from the Top 20, Top 10, to get back to where he was at the beginning," he said.
"He was fighting only bums for three or four years.”
Charr added: “Right now Joshua is mentally broken, you can see that.
"Against Andy Ruiz Jr when he got first KO’d, two losses against Usyk, he looks broken.
"He needs time. He is not ready for Fury. He needs five or six easy fights to get back to himself.
"If he fights Wilder next he can stop boxing after that.
"He is not ready for Wilder or Fury and not ready for me.”
While Joshua has suffered some big defeats over the years, he did easily beat Robert Helenius last month.
Yet a fight between the Watford-born boxer and Fury does still seem far away, despite Bellew's claims.
Joshua is in talks with Wilder and Eddie Hearn claimed earlier this week that terms had been agreed ahead of a potential showdown.
"We've agreed the money. We've agreed everything," the boxing promoter said.
"We're waiting on the official contract but we won't wait forever."
He added: "He [Joshua] is just training away but he wants Wilder.
"If it can't be made, he wants to stay active. If he fights in December, that'll be three fights in eight months which is incredible for him.
"People keep saying he should have one more fight and then fight Wilder, but we don't think so.
"If it ends up that way, so be it and nothing would surprise me.
"If he fights in December, if he fights Deontay Wilder, if he fights Tyson Fury next - nothing would surprise me.
"There's Filip Hrgovic and there's Andy Ruiz Jr, but it probably won't take place in this country.
"He's had two now on the spin at The O2 Arena, so maybe we go to Madison Square Garden, somewhere in the Middle East.
"It's just about activity for him."
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Tyson Fury has played down talk of Anthony Joshua boxing fight
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Fury, meanwhile, made his feelings clear on a potential fight with Joshua by saying his fellow Brit had 'bottled it'.
"This is not about Usyk or any other boxers. It's about me and him doing combat and there is no more to it," he said.
"All these boxers, they had their chances over the last nine months to do a deal with me, they didn't so we've moved on and took a real man who is willing to challenge himself.
"Facts are facts: [Anthony] Joshua bottled it, Usyk bottled it and Andy Ruiz asked for $20m, so he bottled it too."
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