He may be singing a different tune now that they are poised to fight for for all the heavyweight belts, but Tyson Fury used to rate his rival Anthony Joshua very highly.
In the wake of Joshua’s ninth-round destruction of Kubrat Pulev on Saturday night (Sunday NZT) to retain his WBA, WBO and IBF titles, Fury lashed out at his fellow Brit, promising to knock him out “in three rounds” should they meet as expected in a unification showdown next year.
“Anthony Joshua just s… himself live on television. He got asked if he wanted the fight, and he went around the bushes,” Fury said in a foul-mouthed video posted on social media.
“I want the fight, I want the fight next, I will knock him out inside three rounds, he is a big bum dosser, I can’t wait to knock him out.”
In his post-bout interview, Joshua was initially reluctant to mention a fight with Fury, the WBC beltholder, to find an undisputed heavyweight champion, instead asking for the crowd who they wanted him to face next.
However, when pressed by broadcaster Sky Sports, the 31-year-old said: “Whoever has the belt I would love to compete with them. If that is Tyson Fury, let it be Tyson Fury.’’
The two fighters’ rival promoters are already working on a deal for the pair to meet in what would arguably be the biggest heavyweight clash since Muhammad Ali faced Joe Fraizer in New York 50 years ago.
“We all want this undisputed fight and all boxing needs is the undisputed heavyweight fight,” Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said.
“Coming off the pandemic, this is what the sport needs. It’s the shot in the arm it needs. AJ is just different, he transcends the sexes, ages, religions, countries and that is the only way we are going to grow boxing. Not many people can do it.”
The unbeaten Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), who captured the WBC belt in February with a seventh-round stoppage of American Deontay Wilder, has long questioned Joshua’s (24-1, 22 KOs) credentials, labelling him a “talentless bodybuilder” and questioning his heart after his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr in New York last year.
But before they both rose through the professional ranks to become world champions, ‘The Gypsy King’ spoke of him in glowing terms.
Fury sparred Joshua a decade ago when he was a 22-year-old pro and Joshua was 20 and still an amateur chasing his Olympic dream in the looming London Olympics.
In a revealing interview with BBC Radio London’s boxing correspondent Steve Bunce, Fury discussed what happened when he met this young amateur prospect inside the ring.
“I just went down to Finchley Boxing Club and sparred the ABA champion Anthony Joshua. He’s red hot him, very good,” Fury said.
“To be honest with you I thought ‘I’ll only take it easy because he’s only an amateur and he probably wont spar me again if I go mad’.
“He rushed out at me, he threw a one-two and left hook and bash, he hit me with an uppercut right on the point of the chin,” Fury continued.
“If I’d had a weak chin like [British heavyweight] David Price I’d have been knocked out for a month. He’s very, very, very good and he’s only young. Watch out for that name, Anthony Joshua, he is one prospect for the future,” Fury told the BBC’s Bunce.
“I’m a good prospect, I rate myself as one of the top heavyweights in the world and he came at me for three rounds and he gave me a beating. I am not going to deny it. He gave what for, hell for leather. I thought an amateur is killing me.
“I slowed him down with a few good body shots. The kid is only 20. I’m a handful myself, so for him to put up a good performance like that against a top prospect in me, I think he’s one for the future.”
However, Fury’s praise did come with one important caveat: “… sparring isn’t fighting and fighting with a head guard is not professional boxing.”
While Joshua and Fury’s camps tentatively agreed financial terms on a two-fight deal in June, there are still a few potential obstacles in the way of their superfight.
Fury is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Wilder over whether he is contractually obliged to fight the American for a third time.
Joshua, meanwhile, may have to face the WBO’s mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) first if he wants to keep the organisation’s belt.
Should Joshua vacate or be stripped, the winner of Joseph Parker’s domestic clash with Junior Fa early next year could potentially meet Usyk for the vacant belt.
