LET ME FIGHT FURY
Joshua calls out ring rival
ANTHONY JOSHUA wants Tyson Fury to return to boxing so he can settle their feud in the ring.
IBF champion Joshua takes on heavyweight star Wladimir Klitschko in a blockbuster bout at Wembley on Saturday week.
But he was riled by Fury’s jibes on Twitter on Tuesday when the former heavyweight champion labelled him a “poor man’s Frank Bruno”.
Fury (right) is currently without a boxing licence after he failed a drugs test for cocaine and is also under investigation by UK Anti-Doping for another offence.
Joshua said: “The biggest fight out there? I think Tyson Fury.
“If it were up to me, that would have been the fight happening this summer. That’s what I thought.
“I was planning for a massive showdown with Tyson Fury but he
had other plans and I just had to carry on. When he returns, I’m sure I’ll still be here.
“Do I want him to come back? Yes, definitely.
“I couldn’t say what his plans are. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here as a fighter. I’ve been disciplined, I’ve stayed on track.”
When asked if he wanted Fury to come back, to give him a pasting, Joshua laughed and said: “Would you?”
Joshua and Fury exchanged barbs on Twitter after Fury posted a picture of Bruno with the message that Joshua was a poor version of the former WBC heavyweight champion.
Focus
Joshua said: “It’s quite disrespectful. If he’s an all-time great then why is he worrying about who is behind him? You should focus on your future.
“I must be so relevant to these people that are in front of me. I just find it so disrespectful.
“He calls himself the Greatest Of All Time, the GOAT. If I was the GOAT, I would never worry about who is behind me.
“He addresses me and tweets me quite often. I was just in the frame of mind where I thought, ‘Me and Klitschko don’t have much verbals, so let me respond to Fury’.” But the IBF king insists he was not distracted by the incident for more than five minutes.
And he does not expect Fury to take up his offer of two free tickets for him and his “fat a**”.
The London 2012 Olympic champion’s focus soon returned to Klitschko, who Fury beat on points in November 2015, and Joshua continued his preparations in front of the media at GB Boxing’s base in Sheffield yesterday. He added: “For the five minutes I was distracted and then I had to go training but I would have gone back and forth.
“He probably won’t take up the offer. He didn’t come to the O2 for the Charles Martin fight so I don’t expect him to come to this one.”
Sky Sports Box Office will show Joshua v Klitschko exclusively live. To order go to www.skysports.com/joshua