The long running rivalry between heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury is a good one between two quality guys.
Despite Joshua being just a little over a year younger than Fury, he recently took to questioning why Fury took so long to get to his first title.
“Fury has been professional much longer than me,” Joshua recently told Sky Sports. “He should be looking to retire soon. If he wants to cement his legacy, I’m here and ready. I’ve built myself into this position.”
Joshua holds the WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight titles, while Fury is the WBC champion. The two very well could be meeting in 2021, according to reports.
But first, Joshua must defend his belts against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev, likely in December, while Fury is still contracted to a third fight with Deontay Wilder, who he beat in their rematch.
“I’ll challenge Fury, I’ll challenge Wilder,” said Joshua. “These guys aren’t the biggest names that I’ve fought on my record anyway. They are just another heavyweight. Look at my record. They are not the best fighters that I have challenged.”
Joshua’s breakthrough win was over Wladimir Klitschko, a huge name in the sport.
“When they are ready, I’m here to fight,” Joshua added.
Joshua went from being an Olympic gold medallist in London 2012 to a world champion just four years later.
“I came up quick. That shows I’m ready. These boys turned professional in 2008 and it took [Fury seven years] to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world,” said Joshua. “He’s on a completely different journey. I want to steam through.”
Joshua is again talking a good game, as he should.
“I haven’t got fear of Fury, whether he’s got a better chin than me, a better jab than me, whether he’s all of this stuff that people say,” said Joshua. “So be it. Let me go in there and prove myself. Show you who I am and what I can do.
“I’ve fought five champions and been in two unification fights. I’m a two-time heavyweight champion in the space of 24 fights and a [seven-year] career. It shows you I am serious. If Fury is serious, I’ll take that fight seriously too,” Joshua added.
Who knows if Joshua is serious when saying Fury may retire soon, but we would love to see them fight one another.
Fury looked near unstoppable in his rematch with Wilder, and he was surprisingly aggressive too. Meanwhile, Joshua showed new wrinkles in his game in December of last year when he outboxed Andy Ruiz Jr.
One fight prior, Ruiz stopped Joshua in seven rounds in a back and forth fight that saw each man hit the deck. Joshua’s resilience in coming back from that defeat, after many had written him off, says a lot about his temperament.
