By Edward Chaykovsky
Former two-division world champion David Haye believes Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16KOs) is already capable of defeating the current king of the heavyweight division, WBO/WBA/IBO champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18KOs).
Joshua captured the IBF heavyweight title last month with a quick second round knockout of Charles Martin.
The Olympic gold medal winner will make the first defense of his title on June 25th against unbeaten American Dominic Breazeale (17-0, 15KOs).
Fury will defend his titles for the first time in a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko on July 9th in Manchester. Fury stunned Klitschko for the belts last November in Germany. It was Klitschko's first defeat in over a decade.
Haye (27-2, 25KOs) told Sky Sports: "I think he's ready for Tyson Fury right now. If you look at Fury's style, he's very loose and not very fast or agile.
"Joshua has already beaten him up in sparring. You've only got to go on YouTube and look at the comments of Fury talking about getting beaten up by a young Joshua. That was when Joshua was an amateur; a novice. If you can beat a seasoned professional up then, now that Joshua himself is a professional I don't think Fury has a shot in hell."
"Joshua is a 16-fight novice who happens to have the IBF championship of the world. It's fair he wants to gain some experience and not jump into super-fights straight away. Hopefully, he'll face Fury if Fury beats Wladimir Klitschko in July. Hopefully, Joshua could unify the titles there and when him and his team feel he's ready and it's worthwhile, I'd love the opportunity to get in there because I believe I could beat him."
"Realistically, I don't see him wanting to jump in the ring with me any time soon. He needs experience first and maybe go a few rounds with somebody."
Haye, 35, will face unbeaten Arnold Gjergjaj (29-0, 21KOs) on May 21 at the O2 Arena in London.
