Tyson Fury 30-0-1 (21) has launched an attack on his heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua 24-1 (22) questioning the quality of opposition he has faced.
The reigning WBA, WBO and IBF champion will defend his belts against mandatory challenger and former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 18-0 (13) at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in Tottenham, England on September 25.
WBC champion Fury was widely expected to face fellow Brit Joshua in the northern summer but those plans fell apart when an independent arbitrator ruled he was contractually obliged to face former titleholder Deontay Wilder 42-1-1 (41) for a third time.
The fight will takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 9.
Despite being deep in camp for this fight, Fury took time out of his day to criticise Joshua’s resume and comment on why big fights are so hard to make.
“I do think that the best boxers do fight each other eventually, but it’s not gonna happen when everyone calls for it,” Fury explained to The Overlap.
“It only happens when say one boxer’s on the slide and one’s in his prime.
“Then you get them wanting to fight each other.
“But you very rarely get two prime fighters fight each other.
“Because one of them is always a bit wary that they’re gonna lose.”
Joshua is a case in point, according to Fury.
“Anthony Joshua’s fought not one heavyweight in his prime,” he said.
“He fought Wladimir Klitschko at 42 years old, Kubrat Pulev 40-odd, Alexander Povetkin 40-odd.
“They’re all former good men, back in the early 2000s, late 2000s, but not in 2020-odd.
“They were good men 10 years ago.”
Neither Fury nor Wilder have fought since their second clash in February last year. The 33-year-old Fury dominated the bout, dropping the American twice before his corner threw in the towel in the seventh.
The bout was a rematch of their controversial split draw in Los Angeles in December 2018. Fury was knocked down twice late in the bout which was enough to allow Wilder to retain his title.
Protracted negotiations between the Fury and Joshua camps for a rare four-belt unification extended for months before it finally looked like the bout was about to be signed.
The arbitrator’s ruling at the 11th hour nixed the bout but both sides insist they are keen on revisiting the prospect after their next respective bouts.
Joshua says fighting the best in the only way you can improve in boxing.
“We need it for boxing,” he told BBC 5 Live. “I need it, you need it, the boxing world needs it. To get better is very difficult in boxing. To improve is difficult.
“So, to fight Tyson Fury is a big challenge for myself, because I’m going to put that pressure on myself to actually get better.
“But it’s what we all need, I need it, just to see how good I am. Come on, let’s go through this training camp again.”
