Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua Prediction: Who Wins the Battle of Britain?

Billed as 'Finally', Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is going to happen on December 11th at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. 

Although the fight should have happened years ago, it will finally go down this year, with each man far past their best.

With the fight a little over two months away, we take a look at some early predictions ahead of what promises fireworks.

Fury vs AJ - Early Predictions

Press Conferences

Expect Tyson Fury to dominate the press conferences. He is going to play all the mind games that he can to try and get in the head of AJ, try to dominate any interaction they have and try his best to get AJ emotionally involved in the fight itself.

Expect stoicism from AJ. He won't get emotionally involved and should allow his promoter, Eddie Hearn, to take on a lot of the emotional baggage that comes with facing Tyson Fury. 

Don't expect trash talk from AJ, expect him to thank Turki Alalshikh, the man who made this fight happen, expect him to not bite on anything Fury says and expect it to frustrate Fury.

Weight

One of the most interesting things about heavyweight boxing is the weight. Questions are constantly asked about whether heavyweights will choose to come in heavy and look to utilise that weight as power, or whether they will come in light, look to box and move and try to fatigue their opponent.

Tyson Fury's weight has fluctuated throughout his career. When he had the trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder, his game plan was made clear on the scales the day prior to the fight. He'd come in looking to sit down on his shots and knock Wilder out. He put on 20lbs in order to do this and achieved his goal.

When he faced Oleksandr Usyk, he knew he needed to be quicker due to the Ukrainian's speed and came in at 223.5 lbs in their first fight and 226 lbs in their rematch.

Since then, he's been heavy. Against Arslanbek Makhmudov in his return fight, he weighed in at 265 lbs and ballooned to 291 lbs for his most recent outing against Mariusz Wach in July.

AJ's weight has also fluctuated. Against Jake Paul in his comeback fight, he was 216.5 lbs and put on weight to make 261.5 lbs against Kristian Prenga last time out. 

We expect both men to come in heavy. Tyson Fury will look to put it on AJ, test his chin and knock him out. We've seen AJ knocked down in two of his last three fights. Against Prenga, he was wobbled twice early in the fight. Fury will look to do the same.

AJ will likely come in much lighter than Fury, but still heavy. Around the 250 lbs mark would be ideal for AJ.

Outcome

Realistically, this fight could go any way. Either man could knock the other out early or late. If it goes the distance, Fury will likely get his hand raised, but don't expect it to get to the final rounds.

Fury has always been hittable, and the heavier he is, the slower he will be. The extra weight does allow him to 'take' a shot better; however, if AJ is able to detonate on him, it could be an early night for Tyson. 

AJ's chin has looked questionable as of late, having been wobbled more in recent fights than ever before.

Fury is the better boxer; AJ is the bigger puncher. Fury is the more clever fighter; AJ is the better athlete.

The closer this one gets, the more informed a prediction we'll be able to make. But for this early prediction, we're going with Anthony Joshua by 5th-round knockout.