Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua: David Haye backs Olympic champ to beat lineal heavyweight title-holder

David Haye thinks IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is already capable of beating Tyson Fury. The 26-year-old Brit recently announced he is to make the first defence of his title against the little-known American Dominic Breazeale in June, but Haye believes the Olympic gold medalist has what it takes to defeat the WBA, WBO and IBO champion.

Joshua and Fury are both set to defend their respective titles this summer, and British boxing fans are already calling for the highly-rated duo to fight each other later in the year. Haye thinks Joshua has the ideal style to dethrone Fury.

"I think he's ready for Tyson Fury right now. If you look at Fury's style, he's very loose and not very fast or agile," Haye told Sky Sports. "Joshua has already beaten him up in sparring. You've only got to go on YouTube and look at the comments of Fury talking about getting beaten up by a young Joshua.

"That was when Joshua was an amateur; a novice. If you can beat a seasoned professional up then, now that Joshua himself is a professional I don't think Fury has a shot in hell."

Despite Joshua's lack of experience in the professional ranks, Haye has backed him to unify the heavyweight division. "Joshua is a 16-fight novice who happens to have the IBF championship of the world. It's fair he wants to gain some experience and not jump into super-fights straight away. Hopefully, he'll face Fury if Fury beats Wladimir Klitschko in July," said Haye, who is set to fight Arnold Gjergjaj next month.

"Hopefully, Joshua could unify the titles there and when him and his team feel he's ready and it's worthwhile, I'd love the opportunity to get in there because I believe I could beat him.

"Although he's the champion, he's not the finished article. The foundations are clearly there and he's on the right track. Some smart matchmaking in the right fights at the right time will allow him to get these big fights and mega pay days. Realistically, I don't see him wanting to jump in the ring with me any time soon. He needs experience first and maybe go a few rounds with somebody."