Arum and Malignaggi back Fury – Roy Jones Jr refuses to pick a side
Fury's co-promoter Bob Arum expects his fighter to knock out Joshua, and Paulie Malignaggi also predicts a Fury stoppage. Roy Jones Jr believes either outcome is possible.
Archive image · Photo: DEWALT POWER TOOLS FIGHT NIGHT CLUB 2010 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Six weeks before the December 11 showdown at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Bob Arum has made his call. "I think Fury's a far better boxer than Joshua. And I think, at this stage, he has more left than Joshua," the Top Rank boss told Fight Hub TV, according to Boxing News. Arum also predicted a Fury knockout – though he co-promotes Fury with Frank Warren of Queensberry.
Former world champion Paulie Malignaggi sees it similarly. "AJ's punch resistance is concerning. He seems to be getting hurt by guys he shouldn't be getting hurt by now," he told Parimatch, according to the Mirror. His prediction: "I see a Fury stoppage win." Joshua was knocked down twice by Kristian Prenga in July before stopping him in the second round.
Roy Jones Jr, by contrast, will not commit. "I am really not slipping towards one or the other," he told iFL TV, according to Boxing News. "AJ has the power to take him out. So, somebody is either going to get figured out, or somebody is going to take somebody out."