Exclusive: John Fury’s Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk Fight Prediction

How was Iceland? Known as the land of the Vikings, have you and Tyson done any Viking Warrior ceremonies / rituals to make you even more potent in the ring?

We never saw any Saxons, but I can tell you about Iceland, the food and cuisine is excellent. It’s probably the best food I’ve ever tasted. Iceland probably has the best food in the world, it’s just a pity the weather wasn’t that good. It was like a November day out there and it’s a sparse, thin populated area.

It’s a lovely country, with all Volcanic rocks – there was even a Volcano that erupted while we there, all good fun. We were only there for two days but it was fantastic.

I did a bit of axe throwing too but wasn’t very good at it. I ended up with a bill for £500 for the food for not being able to throw the axe properly. We had a little bet there being a gambler, but I lost! I should take the advice from Freebets.com and leave it to the professionals.

What did you do in Iceland? did you eat any Icelandic delicacies that you enjoyed? Curtland Lang ate pigs’ trotters to hit harder, anything like that to boost performance?

Let me tell you I was brought up on pig’s trotters, so those aren’t a delicacy to me! I had those, pig’s tails, pig’s heads and everything. You name it, we’ve eaten the lot. We didn’t have anything out the ordinary, just normal food. But over there the food is good, even the kebabs are brilliant.

I won’t eat kebabs in the UK, ever. But over there, it was all I had. I couldn’t get enough of them. Everything, even chips was that much better than over here. Fair play to the chefs, they got everything right.

We went for a Saxon / Viking meal, we got dressed up in cloaks and ate our banquet Viking dinner and it was out of this world. Brillant.

Do you think that’s why they’re so big over there, people like Thor?

Well, there’s something in the food isn’t there, because we were small over there. I don’t say Tyson, but me, I’m 6ft 3, 20 stone and I looked like an average guy walking around the street.

Your known as Big John and Big Brother is coming back, would you consider going on the celebrity version? If not, would you consider doing any other TV shows?

Yeah, I would, why not? I’m up for anything me. Anything at all. Call me and let’s do it, but not yet though as I’m busy over summer.

Would you go in the Jungle too?

I’d go in the Jungle yeah; I’d win that because I can eat anything. All of them undesirable bugs and small mammals don’t bother me.

Would you do strictly?

No. I’d be worried about breaking my ankle. I’d make myself look a top fool too. Strictly, no but I do watch the program. I do enjoy it, but I’ve got too left feet, so that puts me out of that.

Do you think Tyson would go on it?

Maybe, but again two-left feet like me.

What are your predictions for the Usyk / Joshua fight?

Listen, I know they’re all talking about Usyk, but I wouldn’t write Anthony Joshua out the picture. If he gets the right gameplan, the right mindset and takes it to him, bullying him with a lot of devil in his work, I think Joshua can stop him.

I’d go for body punches; I’d work the body. Plenty of punishment downstairs, bring them up through the middle and down the sides. If he gets that gameplan, who knows, I think he can do it.

But it’s going to take devil in his work, aggression and him to be bully and the worst form of a human being he’s ever been in that ring. He’s got to change his character completely. He’s got to be a demon when he’s in there, otherwise he’s going to come off second best as you can’t outbox Usyk as he’s just too tricky.

But what he can do is out strength him, out game him and use his size and his weight to his advantage. He needs a lot of heart on the night, if he gets all of this, he should win. Anything less and it’s a Usyk victory.

Depending on who wins, what does this mean for Tyson’s future?

I don’t know – he’s in retirement at the minute. We don’t know what he’s going to do, one day from the next. He’ll retire today and not tomorrow. The decision is Tyson’s, whatever he does I’ll always support him. If he stays retired or comes back, I’ll support him.

It’s a tempting, mouth-watering, lucrative position whoever wins, but I don’t know what he’s going to do as of this minute. Tyson’s a funny guy, just watch this space.

Big announcement from Tyson last week on his retirement, do you believe that is the final decision?

Tyson’s his own man, what he says today, might not be the case next week. But give him 3 months of the life he’s living now; he’s going to want the gym again. Tyson can’t live without boxing. He can’t live without it, that’s my opinion.

He just doesn’t function right if he doesn’t train every day. It’s food for his mind and his body and whatever he wants to do. So, you know what, if he keeps going to the gym twice a day, he’s going to want to do something at the end of it. You can’t train like that and not for something.

We all want to keep fit, we know it’s good for us, but he likes to train twice a day. So, if he’s going to keep sparring with these young lads, you might as well get paid for it. From my view, he’s not done yet, no.

Can we assume that exhibition fights, against Hafthor Bjornsson, Francis Ngannou etc are still options going forward?

Big Thor, I like him as well. We were disappointed he wasn’t there when we were in Iceland the other day, but I understand he’s very busy man and got a lot on. Big Thor, exhibitions, love them.

We’re in the entertainment business, even though it’s dangerous with men that size but at the end of the day it’s all good fun. The only winners are the fans so yeah, why not? Everything and anything, including Francis Ngannou.

Can we expect Tyson to have a bigger role to play in Joseph Parker’s corner now that he’s retired, alongside Andy Lee preparing for the big Joe Joyce fight?

Tyson is practically living with Joe Parker. The pair of them are very close friends. I like Joe myself, lovely young man – very respectful to his elders and we love having him around, he’s a great guy.

He’s got a good team down there, doing his thing, but Tyson will have a great input in his career. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up managing him! He’s basically doing it already.

If Tyson is to vacate the WBC belt, is there hope Joe Parker can fight for the title next, keeping the belt in the family of sorts?

I don’t know it’s up to the promoters, the WBC boss and others. They call those shots, not us. If Tyson vacates the belt, it’s up to the WBC who they nominate, it’s out of our hands. We hope Joe will be in that bag, we keep our fingers crossed.

Is Tyson planning to do the same and vacate the WBC belt in the coming weeks? They appear to have given a deadline of sorts for a final decision…

I have no idea, that’s his decision, we’ve not talked about it. That’s up to Tyson and his management.

If Joshua wins on Saturday, inevitably there is going to be talk about that Battle of Britain again. How do you think Tyson will respond to that?

That’s a good question, Tyson is a unique man, no-one knows what his reaction to being called out would be. I wouldn’t mind being a fly on the wall for that. Whatever goes down, I’m sure Tyson will put his two pence in. It’ll be something special, believe me. It’ll be worth watching for sure.

Any update on Tommy Fury’s next move?

We’re looking at getting Tommy back fit again. He’s had a bit of time off and looking to get him out there as soon as possible. It’s down to Frank Warren and Queensbury boxing what they’re going to do with him.

We’re in Holiday season now, September, let it come and we’ll see what goes from there. We’re trying to have at least two fights before Christmas. But again, it’s up to Frank Warren and Queensbury but I am helping him, and I’ve got to say he’s looking very fit.

Joshua’s only had one fight in the past year, do you think there should be more fights for fighters at the top level?

For me, I’d like to see two title defences a year. These young fighters, need to be out regularly in order to improve. It’s up to Joshua’s team and management, but I think world titles should defend twice a year. They did in the old days, they had 15 rounds then too.

If Joshua loses this weekend, do you think he’ll retire?

If he loses on Saturday night, it’ll be very difficult for him to get back up there again won’t it. It can be done of course, but he’ll lose a lot of ground. A lot of momentum. He needs a win does AJ, but he’s got millions of dollars in the bank, he doesn’t really need the money.

A loss may steer him towards thinking that way, but they’re boxers and he’s got a lot of people wrapped around him. It’s not going to be his final decision I don’t think; it depends how tied up he is.

But I think a loss would steer him towards that, but you never know with boxers.

I personally think he’d carry on though, because that’s what boxers do. It’s not good to go out on a defeat, people want to go out on a high.

It’s like Amir Khan the other day, he looks so sad in his speech. It’s not a good way to go out. But you can’t help situations like that and which way the dice falls. Time is everything.

Let’s all get behind him and all root for the man. He’s a fellow Brit and let’s see what happens. I’ll enjoy Saturday night; Usyk is a great fighter. Good luck to both men and the best man will win.