Joshua wants undercard shot
Brit has verbal jab at Mayweather over fight with McGregor
Anthony Joshua has told Floyd Mayweather he wants to fight on the undercard of the American's potential showdown with Conor McGregor.
Two of boxing's biggest names came face-to-face last weekend when the unbeaten Joshua met the former pound-for-pound king for a meet-andgreet with fight fans.
Talk of a historic cross-over fight between McGregor and Mayweather has been rumbling for months. And Joshua, who set British pay-per-view records in his win over Wladimir Klitschko last month, hopes to fight on the bill should the fight be made.
“Get me on the undercard!” Joshua said to Mayweather, before claiming: “That's legendary sh*t, that fight will go [down] in history”.
McGregor, who confirmed his place as the biggest star in UFC when he became its first dual-weight world champion last year, signed a contract for the historic cross-over fight earlier this week as the money-spinning match-up moved another step closer.
And Mayweather, a former poundfor-pound king who initially retired from the ring in 2015, confirmed he would only return to boxing for a showdown with the MMA fighter.
“McGregor is the only fight I will come back for,” he said.
“That's 100 per cent. It's the only fight that makes sense to me.
“I've accomplished everything else. Is this one extra obstacle to overcome?”
The 40-year-old has been in the UK this week on promotional duties. He was at the Copper Box arena on Sunday (New Zealand time) to see his protege, Gervonta “Tank” Davis, stop Britain's Liam Walsh and retain his IBF super-featherweight title in emphatic fashion.
Joshua, meanwhile, has been out of the ring since he rose from the canvas to beat Klitschko in last month's epic heavyweight clash that cemented his place among the biggest icons in the sport today.
The 2012 Olympic champion is being touted by many to take over the mantle as the leader of boxing from Mayweather, who won all 49 of his professional fights.
Mayweather, nicknamed “Money”, is one of the richest stars in sport and claims to have earned more than £610 million ($1.1m) during his career. Joshua has aspirations to surpass the unbeaten American, however, claiming last month that he wants to become the world's first billionaire boxer.
And as well as sharing a video of him and Mayweather on his Instagram, Joshua uploaded a photo of a signed boxing glove depicting the two “unified champions” with the caption: “A night to forget — TBE meets AJBXNG”.