Former world super-featherweight champion Barry Jones has weighed in on the much-anticipated heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, tipping Fury as the clear favorite if the fight happens this year.

Speaking on the 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce podcast, Jones highlighted Fury’s impressive performance against Oleksandr Usyk despite his recent loss and suggested the Gypsy King still has plenty to offer in the sport.

“Fury is a massive favourite but I think in general he was always a slight favourite [against Joshua],” Jones said.

“He’ll want the Joshua fight because he’s almost beaten every fighter of his generation. It might be a different Joshua, but it’s a different Fury.”

“I think to get Joshua on his record in years to come will show how good he is.”

Potential Venues and Stakes

While Jones predicts the fight will take place in a UK stadium, boxing expert Steve Bunce is skeptic about it. Both fighters are under immense pressure, with their legacies and pride on the line.

Bunce stated: “The loser has a massive amount to lose. Fury can lose to Usyk again no problem, Joshua can lose to Dubois again no problem. I just think this is a monumental fight.”

“The loser of that drops a lot of ground pride-wise.”

Recent Form of Both Fighters

Fury, 36, is coming off a points defeat to Usyk in December but has stated he has no intention of retiring.

Joshua, 35, suffered a stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois in an IBF world title fight last September, casting doubts over his ability to reclaim top status in the division.

With both fighters facing critical moments in their careers, a Fury-Joshua matchup could serve as a definitive test of their standing among the heavyweight elite.

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are no longer world champions but a fight between the two is still of huge interest to fans.

Joshua is a former two-time world heavyweight belt holder who also unified the division. He had big wins over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker but took an upset loss to Andy Ruiz in 2019 that first derailed him.

After rebuilding, it was then Olekansdr Usyk who relieved him of all of his belts in 2021 and since then Joshua had another shot at the IBF title held by Daniel Dubois but ended up getting stopped back in September.

Fury meanwhile had an epic trilogy with Deontay Wilder which saw him pick up and defend the WBC title before stopping the likes of Whyte and Derek Chisora. Back in May he challenged Usyk for the undisputed title but fell short on points and then lost again to the same man in the rematch in late December.

When asked by Sports Boom about a potential all-British clash with Fury, Joshua seemed optimistic.

“it has to happen.”

He then added more positivity.

“And hopefully, it does happen.”

This fight has been on the cards for many years, often while both men were holding version of the world title, but it has so far always sadly eluded fans.

Were it to happen this year, potentially as one final hurrah for both men, it would be a legacy fight that would see the winner going down as one of the best of the era despite there being no belts on the line.

Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury now looks likely for 2025.

The battle of Britain has eluded fans for many years and is now undoubtedly past its best before date, however it will still be a mega-fight that can fill a stadium.

Why it could happen now is because both men are out of the title picture and looking for big fights before retirement. Joshua lost twice to Oleksandr Usyk before going on a run of four wins to get a shot at Daniel Dubois’ IBF world title. He was knocked out in five. Fury has recently suffered the same fate against Usyk, failing to beat the Ukrainian over 24 rounds.

It is now widely agreed that the match-up is the best out there for both men. How it plays out is anybody’s guess, but there are some shared opponents who can provide good insight.

Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin took Fury the distance back in 2019, inflicting a near-fight ending cut on the Brit before losing on the scorecards. After a run of six victories, he faced Joshua but was stopped inside five rounds.

Speaking to Sun Sport with the experiences of facing both, Wallin gave ‘AJ’ a good chance but said he can’t back against ‘The Gypsy King.’

“I feel like Joshua is a very good fighter, very good power, very good counter puncher. I feel like he definitely has a shot with Fury. And you just never know what Tyson Fury shows up. I still have a hard time going against Tyson in that fight.

But, the fights if you compare it my fight against Joshua was a lot tougher than the one I had against Fury. That doesn’t mean everything but I give Joshua more of a chance than I did before. But I still would probably pick Fury as the favourite.”

Wallin returns to action against Derek Chisora on February 8 in Manchester.

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could finally be set to meet in 2025.

Fury came up short in his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk earlier this month, missing out on the chance to once again become world heavyweight champion after the Ukrainian won by unanimous decision.

Just like their first meeting, it was another close encounter across 12 hard-fought rounds, but all three judges scored it 116-112 to Usyk to make it back to back defeats for Fury.

Attention has already turned to who ‘The Gypsy King’ may look to take on next, with the long-awaited all-British showdown with Joshua seemingly top of the list for many boxing fans.

Joshua himself lost two straight fights to Usyk in 2021 and 2022, so he knows full well what it is like to have to bounce back after sharing the ring with the extremely talented Ukrainian.

‘AJ’ initially looked to struggle, claiming lacklustre wins against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius, but then appeared to be back to his lethal best with dominant stoppage victories against Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.

That earned Joshua another crack at world honours against IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois, but ended in a devastating loss after Dubois picked up a fifth round knockout win.

Having shared the ring with Joshua, Dubois has an expert opinion on who may come out on top between ‘AJ’ and Fury, and he made his prediction whilst speaking to Seconds Out.

“Fury.”

Dubois did add though that he thinks it may be time for ‘The Gypsy King’ to hang up his gloves.

“He’s had a great career. It’s time for him to call it a day now.”

Time will tell if a fight between Fury and Joshua does indeed happen, but that hasn’t stopped Usyk revealing which of the two men gave him a tougher fight.