ANTHONY JOSHUA has been told by Deontay Wilder's trainer that he CAN beat Tyson Fury, who is "more vulnerable than he's ever been".
The heavyweight rivals are closing in on a shock deal to fight on December 3 at Cardiff's 75-000-seat Principality Stadium.
Joshua, 32, is coming off two consecutive points losses to Oleksandr Usyk, 35, most recently in Saudi Arabia last month.
Meanwhile, Fury, 34, knocked out Dillian Whyte, also 34, in devastating fashion at Wembley in April.
Although Malik Scott, who coached Wilder for his epic trilogy fight against the Gypsy King, has given hope for Joshua.
Scott, 41, told Fair Betting Sites: “It's a tough job for AJ but in my opinion, he has a pedigree, he has a gold medal, he has ability.
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"AJ can punch, he's a strong kid. He's big. It can almost come across, when you think about all those attributes, like, hold up, this is Anthony Joshua.
"Let's back up. How could he not win? I think personally the people who are giving him no shot at all are crazy.
"I think people who are giving AJ no shot at all – that's blasphemous. I do not agree with that at all.
"Very tough fight and when I say tough, I mean very tough to decide who I think will win. And most people will say, well, how is it tough?
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"Fury's been on fire. He's been smoking everybody. Yeah, but he's also more vulnerable than he's ever been.
"Fury also gives you an opportunity to hit him more than he ever did too, and in the heavyweight division, I just can't have full confidence in someone that gives you an opportunity to hit them, I just can't do that.
"He said it himself, he's very vulnerable. He's very vulnerable as a fighter. But that's what makes him exciting as well."
Fury was expected to unify all four heavyweight belts – for the first time in history – against Usyk.
But the Ukrainian has ruled himself out until next year having returned to his war-torn home and family after months training away.
So Fury turned his attention to AJ, who later conceded to a 60/40 split and is already in training for the short-notice Battle of Britain.
Scott helped Usyk in the gym for his rematch with over Joshua and cornered Wilder in defeat last October against Fury.
It followed after 11 classic rounds, in which Wilder, 36, scored two knockdowns but was floored three times himself in the loss.
Fury's been on fire. He's been smoking everybody. Yeah, but he's also more vulnerable than he's ever been.
And Scott insisted Fury is not invincible and pointed to his trips to the canvas as evidence.
He said:"With Fury giving you opportunities, that's him taking the opposition for granted.
"That's why my prediction was, you know, I thought Wilder would knock him out inside of five rounds.
"And my prediction almost came true because in the fourth round we had him down.
"That happened because tell me one time you’ve ever seen Tyson Fury walk to somebody straight with his hands like this and just walk forward with his shoulder squared?
"It doesn't happen. But when he thinks he's in control, he comes out of himself and becomes a little bit more vulnerable.
"And I believed that if he did that with us, Deontay would be able to strike and keep him down.
"It almost happened. It didn't, credit to Fury. He got up and continued on to do what he did.
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"But I believe you give someone like Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder opportunities to hit you over and over and over and over, I think that [unbeaten run] can only last so long.
"But then again, this is Tyson Fury. He's made us all wrong so many times. And that's the exciting part about him as well.
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