Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are expected to collide before the end of the year in a long-awaited grudge match, and now a British heavyweight who has sparred both men has shared his prediction for the fight.

The two fighters have been expected to meet ever since ‘The Gypsy King’ announced his comeback and defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov upon his return in April, where he publicly called for a summer showdown with ‘AJ’ during the aftermath. 

Refusing to dance to his rival’s tune, Joshua maintained that he would require a warm-up fight before a clash with Fury can be formally announced – hoping to build up further experience with new trainer Iegor Golub whilst shaking off some ring rust.

Both Fury and Joshua will fight this weekend, with further details regarding their meeting set to be unveiled if both men come through their respective opponents unscathed.

Speaking with Boxing King Media, Kash Ali, who has sparred both Fury and Joshua, revealed that he is favouring Fury, impressed by his points win over Makhmudov.

“For me, Tyson Fury [is the favourite]. Stylistically, I know Joshua as well, but even when Tyson fought [Wladimir] Klitschko, I was one of the few people, if you go back 15 years, that said Tyson was going to beat Klitschko. 

“They both are still good, they are both former champions, but they are probably coming to the end of their careers now. They have got a couple of years left, then they will be done, but I favour Tyson just from his skill-set – even though he has not been active – his fights have been good. 

“Whereas with Joshua, he lost to [Daniel] Dubois and then he boxed Jake Paul – which is not really a competitive fight for him.”

Fury takes on Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday, whilst Joshua faces Kristian Prenga in Jeddah on Saturday.