By Keith Idec
Joe Calzaghe is looking forward to watching Anthony Joshua perform Saturday night in what’s considered Calzaghe’s home stadium.
The Welsh legend will reflect fondly on his own huge fight at Principality Stadium when he attends Joshua’s heavyweight title fight against Carlos Takam on Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales. That’s the venue, then known as Millennium Stadium, where the retired Calzaghe won his super middleweight title unification fight against Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler in November 2007.
Calzaghe also has been thinking about another fight – Joshua against Tyson Fury – and how huge it would be for British boxing.
“I would love to see Tyson Fury get back into shape because I think it would be the biggest British fight of all time,” Calzaghe told Sky Sports for a story posted to its website Wednesday. “A great fight for Britain. It would be a world title fight. Because remember, Tyson Fury beat Klitschko a lot more comfortably than Anthony Joshua. A great mix of styles. I would love to see that fight.”
The 29-year-old Fury wants to fight again, but the British Boxing Board of Control still hasn’t granted the Manchester native a boxing license. The former heavyweight champion battled alcoholism, cocaine addiction and depression after he upset Wladimir Klitschko to win the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles in November 2015.
Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) never participated in the twice-scheduled rematch he owed Klitschko. He eventually sought treatment and gave up his titles.
The 6-feet-9 Fury has gained a lot of weight since he last boxed, but has repeatedly said he is committed to a comeback.
During Fury’s hiatus, the 28-year-old Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) has become the United Kingdom’s biggest boxing star. A crowd of over 75,000 is expected to pack Principality Stadium for the Watford, England native’s fight against Cameroon’s Takam (35-3-1, 27 KOs), a late replacement for IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs).
Fury’s inactivity has shifted focus toward an eventual showdown between Joshua and WBC champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs), but Calzaghe thinks the skillful Fury would give Joshua a tougher time than the hard-hitting Wilder.
“Deontay Wilder, I think Tyson Fury would be a tougher fight for Joshua, just because of the way he boxes,” Calzaghe said. “I fancy AJ to knock out Wilder, but it will be pretty entertaining while it lasts.
“Fingers crossed, he hopefully will take care of business at the weekend, and [we’ll] see Tyson Fury get back in shape. That would be a good fight.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.