Tyson Fury 'didn't look great' as Ricky Hatton raises fears over potential Anthony Joshua fight - 'Criminal'
Boxing news: Ricky Hatton has raised fears that Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua won't ever fight
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Ricky Hatton has expressed fears that Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will never fight each other, despite years of constant speculation and rumours.
AJ is currently preparing for his bout with Daniel Dubois, which is set to take place on September 7, while Fury is gearing up for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk later in the year.
If both men win their next fights, then that would open the door to the possibility of Fury and Joshua finally engaging in battle.
Hatton is worried Fury will lose to Usyk, however, saying the 36-year-old 'didn't look great' as he crashed to defeat against the Ukrainian back in May.
Boxing news: Ricky Hatton has raised fears that Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua won't ever fight
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And he says it's 'criminal' that the Gypsy King and Joshua haven't fought, despite a desire from all parties to make a showdown happen.
"It depends on the next performances," he told Action Network when asked if he can see a fight taking place.
"Tyson didn’t look great against Oleksandr Usyk. Don’t get me wrong it was a good fight, I’m being a little bit unfair there because fighters like Usyk only come along every now and again, he’s exceptional.
"But he wasn’t great against Francis Ngannou, I think he would agree with me on that one.
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"We’re all starting to think has Tyson got too many miles on the clock now? It seems to be the case after the last couple of fights.
"I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in this one. But I don’t see the fight happening now, I think we’ve lost our chance and it was criminal it didn’t happen a few years ago when they were both in their prime.
"But I said I think Anthony Joshua beats Daniel Dubois and Tyson Fury has a good chance of beating Oleksandr Usyk if he tweaks a few little things, so it is capable of happening but I just hope we haven’t lost our chance.
"That’s the biggest fight in boxing and certainly British boxing history.
"If somehow Daniel Dubois ends up winning or Tyson doesn’t win and they don’t end up fighting each other then I think boxing has f****d up.
"It's heavyweight boxing and the apple cart can get upset with one punch in boxing and then there’s rematch clauses.
"Sometimes the fights that we want don’t seem to happen but Tyson has a good chance of beating Usyk and I fancy AJ to come through the Dubois fight but I’m more confident of Joshua winning his next fight rather than Tyson.
"It would be criminal if that fight doesn’t happen. Let’s have our fingers crossed as boxing fans."
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Boxing news: Ricky Hatton is expecting Anthony Joshua to beat Daniel Dubois next month
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These days, big fights take place in Saudi Arabia.
That's due to Turki Alalshikh being involved, with the Saudi Arabian advisor winning plaudits for finally getting big clashes to materialise.
But Hatton has told the 43-year-old that AJ vs Fury shouldn't happen in the Middle East.
He added: "Turki Alalshikh has done for boxing (is incredible). He’s brought all the big fights together and for everyone to work together which is really good for boxing.
Boxing news: Ricky Hatton says Tyson Fury 'didn't look great' in his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk back in May
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"As much as I think our fight fans would appreciate what Turki Alalshikh has done for our sport, as British boxing fans if AJ and Tyson come through, please tell me we’re not expecting Fury and Joshua to fight in Saudi?
"I’m not being disrespectful to Turki Alalshikh, he’s been what our sport has needed. No disrespect to them but certain fights need to be in the United States and certain fights need to be in the UK.
"I’m not saying you can’t have the fights in Saudi but certain fights like AJ and Tyson Fury can only be in one place."