British-Nigerian Anthony Joshua says he will not repeat the mistake Deontay Wilder made against Tyson Fury, insisting he will stay calm and avoid emotional decisions when they meet on December 11.
The former two-time world heavyweight champion believes composure will be crucial in the fight at the sold-out Principality Stadium in Cardiff, which will be shown live worldwide on Netflix.
Fury twice defeated Wilder and drew once with the American in their three-fight rivalry.
Joshua told The Ring’s Mike Coppinger that Wilder’s eagerness to finish Fury after hurting him often left him exhausted and gave the Briton the chance to recover.
“Wilder took those fights very personally, and that could be quite exhausting, especially when you hurt someone and try to finish them,” Joshua said.
“You lose a lot of energy, and then Tyson comes back. Wilder could have gotten the job done if he was a bit more calm, cool and collected. He could have learned from that. Wilder tried to take him out of there, while Fury just managed to weather the storm and come back.”
Joshua said frustration or the urge for an early finish would not dictate his approach.
“I do not believe that would be me. I am going to keep a calm head,” he added.
Joshua also has a historic prize to chase. Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, has said the World Boxing Association super heavyweight belt will be at stake in Cardiff.
A win would make Joshua a three-time world heavyweight champion, a feat achieved by Muhammad Ali, Michael Moorer, Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko, while Evander Holyfield won the title four times.
The belt became available after Oleksandr Usyk vacated it. Murat Gassiev was the association’s number one contender and had been expected to move up, but the pull of Fury against Joshua appears to have taken priority. Both men previously lost their world titles to Usyk.
Warren, who is also staging the rematch between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley for the World Boxing Organisation title this weekend, said the winners could meet in unification fights in 2027.
“We have got three of the four heavyweight champions on our roster, and we are going to make unification fights next year,” he said.
Joshua enters the fight with a professional record of 30 wins, four defeats and 27 knockouts. Fury has 36 wins, two losses and one draw, with 25 knockouts.