Fury fired up Wlad for Joshua title clash

IF anthony Joshua loses his worldtitle fight in front of a 90,000 crowd at Wembley Stadium, he will have not only himself but his heavyweight compatriot tyson Fury to blame.

Wladimir Klitschko insists that his defeat by Fury rejuvenated his fighting instincts in time for his clash with Joshua on april 29.

He said: ‘ If I had taken my routine win over Fury I would have just carried on the same way I had been preparing for 20 years, expecting it to be enough.

‘Instead I got that wake-up call and I am getting ready for the best of today’s world heavyweight champions... anthony in all his young and powerful athleticism.’

the 14-year age gap between himself and Joshua was emphasised when they met at the launch of their fight when Klitschko, who calls Joshua ‘little Bro’ from their sparring days, told him: ‘Dude, it was fun sparring together a while back and good to watch you win your Olympic gold medal at the london Games. But with our age difference I never thought we would end up fighting. It’s strange how life works. But it’s good.’

Joshua does not feel patronised by Klitschko calling him his little Bro. He said: ‘If he wins the fight he can call himself Big Bro.

‘Please God I win and it will be irrelevant.

‘What it would be is the passing of the torch from the Klitschko era to the Joshua era. But for me that will be only the start of me becoming a legend. like Wlad, I will need longevity for that.

‘right now there is a bit of the master and pupil about us. I have tremendous respect for Wladimir. But it will be hugely competitive on the night.’ LAMIR

KHAN and Kell Brook have opened talks for their long overdue ‘ Battle of Britain’, possibly next May at Old trafford. Promoter eddie Hearn said: ‘Both camps seem serious this time. let’s see what happens.’