Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Joshua’s amazing Fury call
ANTHONY JOSHUA has taken the amazing step of inviting bitter rival Tyson Fury into his training camp – to help him get revenge against Oleksandr Usyk and set up their undisputed heavyweight clash.
The Watford warrior lost the WBA, IBF and WBO crowns to the Ukrainian star last month, blowing any hope of a £200million superfight with Fury happening next.
Joshua, 32, is now set for a rematch with Usyk, potentially in March, and made an unlikely offer to Fury.
He told IFLTV: “Tyson can come watch me train, sparring ain’t fighting so he’s definitely more than welcome to step into the gym and give me tips and s*** like that.
“I ain’t fighting him next, so he ain’t got nothing to worry about.
“He’s more than welcome to come into the gym with his experience and it reminds me of the old days when all the great fighters would all mix.
“His experience of fighting southpaws and my experience can merge it into one. I get this win, then hopefully we can get this undisputed fight.”
Fury currently holds the WBC title, with Dillian Whyte pushing for a shot at his belt early next year.
And while the offer to Fury is unlikely to be taken seriously, Joshua is planning his training team for the return clash which is expected to take place early next year.
The former heavyweight champion recently visited four different trainers in the US – Ronnie Shields, Robert Garcia, Eddy Reynoso and Virgil Hunter – as he considers bringing in a fresh face to work alongside head coach Rob Mccracken. But his base will remain in the UK and not abroad.