Sport

ANTHONY JOSHUA’S hard-earned bon voyage to boxing being snatched away by Tyson Fury’s latest retirement feels like the most unsatisfying ending to a glorious sporting story.Just days after the 35-year-old Watford legend vowed to hunt the Gypsy King down at the January 11 Ring Magazine awards, the Morecambe giant announced he was hanging up his gloves… again.Joshua’s emergence and domination helped make heavyweight boxing great againBut Fury’s decision to quit may have robbed AJ of his dream curtain call – and denied fans the chance to see the biggest fight in British historyCredit: PAIs it time for AJ to hang up his gloves too and enjoy a well-earned retirement?Credit: Instagram / @anthonyjoshuaJust as AJ cheerleader-in-chief Eddie Hearn announced he had reserved Wembley for the biggest fight in British boxing history, Fury pulled the plug.The decision won’t do Fury’s resume any harm. He got to Wladimir Klitschko 18 months before Joshua and he got to Deontay Wilder on three brilliant occasions, compared to AJ’s zero. And he held his own in a couple of Oleksandr Usyk defeats, making a close contest of the first, whereas AJ was dominated over both of his clashes with the Ukrainian master.After 15 years of heavyweight magnificence, it seems criminal that Joshua fans must now settle for a slugfest with Wilder diehards over who was the third best big man of their era.Especially when it seemed set in stone that Joshua and Fury would finally meet, over two stupendously-rich fights in Riyadh and London, and leave nobody in any doubt who the best Brit giant is since Lennox Lewis.Both men need redemption, both giants want to be big again after little Usyk belittled their size and abilities with four masterful performances and zero trash talk.If Fury has – and we are not buying it – walked away from the sport, and the £500million two-fight deal, then it leaves Our AJ with a problem.Joshua missed the Wilder boat and he was sunk by Usyk’s genius. Fury was his chance to get up back to the surface for air and potentially sail off into the sunset.He once told us that – in the middle of his bad boy days when he was saved from a serious stretch inside – he chose to treat his boxing career like a prison sentence.Amir Khan echos the nation in plead to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua… and he speaks from experienceHe was going to eat, sleep, train and fight when and where he was told to.He was going to lose, sacrifice and yearn for the things that normal people take for granted.So that when he finished his time, he could become a free man and reap the rewards of his gruelling solitude at the deep end of the hardest sport.After a couple of failed appearances at the parole board, a possible legacy-defining win over Fury looked like his last real crack at a decent farewell strategy. But if Fury has beaten him to the exit and vanished with an earlier and more respected Klitschko win – plus the three sensational Wilder bouts – then he can lay claim to being the finest British heavyweight of his era, the UK’s greatest since Lewis.And what of second-placed Joshua? Does he plod on with high-risk-low-reward opponents who will target his frail confidence and chin like Daniel Dubois did with such devastating success?Or does he hang his gloves up too and go out on the back of a savage knockout that might itself end up cruelly defining a life and career worthy of so much more respect?We shall wait and see.Joshua, seen celebrating with his 2012 gold medal, has done his country proudCredit: PAHe became heavyweight champ in 2016 when he beat Charles MartinCredit: News Group Newspapers LtdHis clash with Klitschko in 2017 was named Fight of the Year and saw AJ add to his collection of world title beltsCredit: GettyJoshua has paid his dues and served his time to King and country. He deserves to walk out on his terms, to a roaring crowd that appreciates him and his underdog achievements.But while it has been an honour to cover his many high and lows in the ring, the finest story Fleet Street has on Anthony Joshua is one we can never write.It’s not a scandal or a cover-up or wrapped up in a non-disclosure agreement.It’s an act of utterly selfless kindness that he only agreed to do if we didn’t use it to flog a few more papers.With his exploits with the gloves on – his 2011 World Championships silver in Baku, London 2012 gold and two title reigns – he has got us jobs, earned us pay rises, helped us get mortgages and raise our children.But the handful of hacks who traipse around the country – and in and out of Saudi – won’t print the moment away from the ropes that endeared him to us forever.Because he asked us to.Robbing AJ of that final fight will be a stroke of evil genius from the mind-games masterIn a sport utterly built on hype and blags and bulls**t, he swore to secrecy the very people who could best celebrate his kindest deed.It’s what has always made it hard to report on his failings in the ring – but also why we will never let anyone question the integrity of the man away from it.It’s why most of us, like his legions of fans around the world, will feel gutted if the overdue Fury fight – after years of Gypsy-King torment and the savage September Dubois knockout – doesn’t materialise. For Team Fury, robbing AJ of that one huge final fight – one that made him break with protocol and admit publicly how much he needs it – will be a stroke of evil genius from the mind-games master.But it will leave Joshua trapped between a rock and a hard punch, having to choose between  a couple of underwhelming opponents he would be expected to beat, like Joe Joyce or Lawrence Okolie.Or fed to younger, hungrier, fresher predators like Fabio Wardley and Moses Itauma.The shock loss to Dubois has left AJ at an unexpected crossroadsCredit: GettyFellow Brit Moses Itauma is tearing through the heavyweight division and could be a possible opponent for AJCredit: GettyFabio Wardley, left, might also relish a chance to test himself against AJ if he sticks aroundCredit: GettyWith a personal fortune the Sunday Times Rich List rates at a very modest £200million, mega-money sponsorship deals with Hugo boss, Lucozade, UnderArmour and Range Rover, and a property portfolio that boasts flagship buildings in Mayfair and Bond Street, AJ has it all sewn up.Every major British broadcaster would bend over backwards to make him their star sports pundit or presenter and Sylvester Stallone would be wise to offer him a Rocky or Expendables script.But it seems much more likely that Joshua would prefer to vanish from the spotlight, help run the brilliant Finchley ABC gym with his mentor Sean Murphy and continue trying to discreetly support the amateur code of the sport that turned his life around.He may enjoy more of his Dubai holidays that he has enjoyed post-fight and offer him the sort of privacy he cannot get anywhere else.The most nourishing break we have seen him appear to take has been the most recent one to Nigeria where he mixed with locals, met presidents, trained kids, and reconnected with the home his parents left for the UK, and an unscheduled retirement may allow him to spend more time there.But whether this boxing crossroads leads him to hang up his gloves and become the first black James Bond who rules Hollywood – or he slips out of the spotlight and reinvests his fortune and experience and knowledge into grassroots boxing – bowing out flat on his face after a brutal loss to Dubois will feel like the cruellest end to a career that changed the nation.Not catching Wilder at his peak looks like a catastrophic clangerAnd fans will be left wondering how – after the London 2012 legend successfully rebuilt after heartbreaking defeats to Andy Ruiz Jr and Usyk – the golden-brick road led to a such a dramatic drop-off.That’s not to say everything AJ has touched up to this point has turned to gold.But whatever setbacks he has faced, he’s always seemed to find a way back.After success-after-masterstoke-after-windfall, Team Joshua made their first big mistake when they failed to make the undisputed Deontay Wilder fight over an 18-month period.AJ had wiped out Charles Martin for the IBF crown in 2016, became a sensation and added the WBA strap with the 2017 Wladimir Klitschko Wembley win and sealed the crucial third WBO belt with a cautious points win over Joseph Parker in 2018.All the while, Tyson Fury had been floored by a doping charge and a breakdown.And over in America and on a much smaller scale, Deontay Wilder was obliterating far lesser opponents.But when crunch time came, and hung around, Team Joshua infuriatingly failed to do a deal with the Bronze Bomber.And by December 2018 a resurgent Fury slipped in to face the Alabama slammer and reestablished himself as a major player with the iconic 12th round performance and thoroughly decent way he accepted a harsh draw.It looked like a poor AJBoxing decision then.And – following the two pastings Fury dished out to the American KO king to complete the trilogy and his dismal showings against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang – not catching Wilder at his ‘peak’ now looks more like a catastrophic clanger.More was to follow too.The decision to draft in Andy Ruiz Jr at late notice for AJ’s Madison Square Garden debut in 2019 went disastrously wrongCredit: Getty Images – GettyFury got the better of Wilder in one of boxing’s all-time great trilogies – while AJ never tied down a deal to fight the Bronze BomberCredit: APFury also got to Klitschko before AJ which could be used in the battle for bragging rightsCredit: Getty – ContributorSix months after Fury’s freakish courage and confidence against Wilder made him a household hero again, the business brains behind AJ’s own bravery and skill blew his career horrifically off course.After months of training to rematch 6ft 4in Dillian Whyte in April, then 6ft 6in MMA trash talker Jarrell Miller at the start of June, the shameless American drug cheat was caught waddling round with Chernobyl levels of toxicity coursing through his clogged arteries.Desperate to keep their star attraction’s US debut on, AJ’s promoter Hearn and new broadcasters DAZN spent a week looking for a replacement and finally settled on a total outlier and underdog in Ruiz Jr.The unknown chubster’s only selling point was that he was Mexican and that would help the upstart streaming app – that had just handed AJ a £100million deal – navigate a perfect way into the lucrative South American and US markets.It didn’t matter that it was deemed a mismatch of Adonis vs a donut, it didn’t matter that Ruiz was only 5ft 11in, it didn’t matter that he had boxed six weeks earlier.Thankfully Ruiz’s appetite for fast food outweighed his desire to cling on to the WBA, IBF and WBO crownsIt mattered that the suits behind AJ had found a lamb for their cash cow to supposedly slaughter.AJ’s modest Birmingham coach Rob McCracken loathes interviews and wouldn’t let SunSport anywhere near him at the time.Thankfully the brilliant boxing writer Ron Lewis – a much-missed class act McCracken trusted – was there and paved the way for a chat.McCracken confirmed our fears that such a drastic change of opponent – at such late notice – was seriously dangerous. He knew that Ruiz Jr was a live dog in the fight and had been very unlucky not to beat Parker in his New Zealand backyard in 2016.He also knew AJ had been struggling with a medical problem that – to his and his team’s eternal credit – has remained top-secret to this day.We spotted, on his Monday arrival, a stye infection around his eye that hints at a struggling immune system.And on his walk to the ring he was chewing nervously before getting a relaxing massage in his corner – moments before the bell – when he needed the total opposite in red-hot stimulation.In the aftermath these alarm bells rang loud and clear but McCracken’s and our concerns would have been cooled by the first two Madison Square Garden rounds and the textbook knockdown his star student landed early in the third.But moments later, after curvy Ruiz Jr had bounced back up and clipped AJ around the temple, his perfect world started to unravel.Thankfully for Joshua’s rebuild and rematch, Ruiz Jr’s appetite for fast food and long parties outweighed his desire to cling on to the WBA, IBF and WBO crowns.And when he rolled into the desert re-run at 20st months later, Joshua jabbed and jigged back to prominence.AJ has built up a huge property portfolio, including this £20m site in London’s New Bond StreetCredit: Paul EdwardsAJ also bought the HQ of oil giant BP for £30mJoshua has landed some huge sponsorship deals, including with Hugo BossCredit: AlamyJoshua, seen here with Jamie Oliver, is also signed up to Land RoverCredit: GettyThe former champ’s commercial partners include Lucozade and Under ArmourCredit: PASadly the damage to the McCracken relationship was done and their classy decade-long partnership unraveled.The same man he revered and hailed as ‘The General’ and his very own Sir Alex Ferguson was marginalized and finally ousted.Fury’s lost years were between 2015 and 2018 when he failed a drugs test for nandrolone, went into the magnificent Klitschko win knowing his career was in freefall and then battled drink, drug, obesity and mental health problems. But Joshua wasted prime years of his career – between 2019 and 2022 – searching for improvement in all the wrong places, without a reliable boxing man in his corner to be the rudder for the ship.It’s massively commendable that he has promoted childhood friends to positions of power within his organisation and technical team.But when he chose an unproven trainer to help transform him from a 18st knockout artist to a stick-and-move stylist, somebody truly close to him should have spoken up.If Erling Haaland decided he was going to headhunt a pub-league coach to turn him into a left back, we reckon Pep Guardiola or dad Alf-Inge would step in and stop the disaster.The Dubois build-up was a horrific logistical failure by a team who had one jobInstead Team Joshua stocked up on sunglasses and cigars and enjoyed the private jets as Angel Fernandez, Joby Clayton, Robert Garcia and Derrick James came in and went out.In that time Usyk had snatched away all his belts over two fights and lowkey comeback wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius had drawn low attendances and ungrateful boos from Wembley arena.It felt hard to criticise.Fighters are the bravest people in sport and, in almost every interview, we try to dig into their past and their darkness, while Premier League footballers get softballs about their transfer plans, boots deals or secret mistresses.So after that second loss in Saudi, when he broke down in tears and said he felt guilty for letting us – the United Kingdom – down, it was painful.But he has proven time and again he will only stop on his terms, and to see him happy  under trainer Ben Davison and knocking people like Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou out with throwback performances has been great.And although his media commitments are rare and rushed and shorter with every fight, he is yet to give us the sort of cold and empty interviews we usually expect.Joshua will recount to us his bricklaying days, the charge for cannabis possession, the brief time on remand at Reading prison, we even get the odd mention of son JJ who prefers scrambler motorbikes to boxing.AJ gave us gold before the Daniel Dubois fight about a recent row down a Watford pub where a young lad disrespected him and – rather than slip out the backdoor to avoid confrontation – he fronted up to the yob who understandably lost his bottle.Things seemed to be going so well – right up until that Dubois bout.But unlike the Ruiz stunner, the warning signs, like the fighter, arrived way too late.Unforgivably, AJ turned up for his IBF world title shot at a packed out Wembley stadium at about the same time chief support Liam Gallagher did, about an hour before the first bell.It was a horrific logistical failure for a team that had one job.And when Dubois almost decapitated him in the very opening round, those traffic excuses were not going to be enough to absolve the team of blame, as another rebuild ensued.Then, once Fury failed in his second attempt to beat Usyk, it seemed AJ had the ideal shot at redemption and revenge on a plate, against the perfect dance partner.Filterless Fury – whether due to his Traveller showmanship, bi-polar disorder or attention-begging dad – has always shown a desire to be loved and a willingness to share.Barring a couple of unscheduled and unscripted moments, AJ has remained uber-private and ice cool.Joshua funds and supports the Clean Herts Programme to help struggling kids around his home but his team politely rejects media approaches to cover events.Perhaps AJ is paying the price for being too planned and polished.In lockdown he came into the Sun office and worked on a campaign highlighting the magnificent work our NHS was doing.Fury opened his Instagram and home up to us and did a daily workout with the nation.Occasionally a child would run in causing beautiful chaos or Fury and childhood sweetheart Paris would embrace.It endeared the Fury family to the country, at a time of national crisis, and probably paved the way for the ITV docs, best selling books and Netflix series that followed.A PR executive ensconced in elite sport and showbiz once pestered me for the name of Fury’s big-money social media svengali.Like most of his contemporaries, was he paying a fortune to Freuds or Saatchi & Saatchi?The truth is he wasn’t giving a penny to Pinky & Perky.Fury and his band of brothers, friends, coaches and training partners do their shtick on a whim. But neither Fury or AJ needed a marketing campaign planned in a Soho vegan pet shop to sell their fight.It was box-office gold and we were champing at the bit to pack Wembley out and watch the desert version on Sky, DAZN and TNT at any price they wanted to set.We want to see AJ go out at the top, on the crest of a wave, not on his shield.Fury’s decision to quit has denied us fans the exit we wanted, and more importantly for AJ, the Hollywood farewell he deserves.AJ’s shrewd business brain has helped him amass a fortune of around £200mCredit: GQ / Matthew BrookeAJ and Eddie Hearn have some big decisions to makeCredit: GettyNo one could begrudge the former heavyweight king if he decided to sail off into the sunsetCredit: @anthonyjoshuaOr perhaps he will go back to where it all began, at Finchley ABC gymCredit: Mark Robinson More