Anthony Joshua 28-3 (25) has given the world a taste of what he really thinks about his rival Tyson Fury 34-1-1 (24).
Britain’s Fury, 35, lost his bid to become undisputed champion when he was outpointed by Ukrainian southpaw Oleksandr Usyk 22-0 (14) at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 18.
Two weeks later at the same venue on the ‘5v5’ card, Daniel Dubois 21-2 (20) overcame 32-year-old Croatian Filip Hrgovic 17-1 (14), stopping him in eight heats to win the interim IBF heavyweight title.
With Usyk locked in to a rematch against Fury in December and unable to fulfill his mandatory obligation to the IBF, the 37-year-old relinquished his title this week. As a result, the IBF upgraded the 26-year-old Dubois to full champion.
Yesterday it was announced that former two-time unified heavyweight champion Joshua, 34, would challenge Dubois for the IBF strap in an all-British showdown that will take place at London’s Wembley Stadium on September 21.
“I’m glad Fury isn’t the undisputed champion. I just think he’s an idiot,” Joshua said.
“If it was someone else I might think it was a shame [that there’s no longer an undisputed champion]. I’ve always said he’s an idiot; he’s very disrespectful. Not in a way I care, but I just feel like he thinks by stepping on other people that makes him feel better.
“I’m not in competition with no-one. I’m in my own lane but he has to step on people to make himself feel good and that’s not good.
“The way he disrespected Usyk – rabbit this and middleweight that – it’s not good for the sport. If I respect you and you respect me we can lift this sport up and people think we are two of the most elite fighters in the world.
“But Fury will step on you and make you look like a guy who’s just walked out of a pub and he’s not on your level. Then he goes and gets spanked [by Usyk] – he deserves it.
“It’s up to him what he says. Usyk is a good fighter – there is no denying it – just give him his flowers and move on.”
Joshua has admitted he is torn about who he wants to win the rematch between Usyk and Fury.
He lost twice on points to Usyk – who he respects – but has been unsuccessful in securing a bout against Fury.
“In a way [I want Fury to beat Usyk],” Joshua continued. “I don’t mind anymore whether he wins or loses. I just want to fight him – it’s been dragging on.
“Fury ducks a lot of people – he doesn’t fight many people. Many top-tier people. He needs to get on with it and come and fight me and stop wasting my time. I don’t want to wait until I’m 40, 41, 42 to fight him.
“It’s up to him [if he wants to retire if he loses to Usyk again]. He’s put himself in a position to make his own decisions. In terms of the fans – I know what they want. We tried to make the fight happen, it was signed and then it fell apart. We had the [Deontay] Wilder fight signed… I’ve always stepped up. Hopefully after this we can get it on, finally.
“I fought [Francis] Ngannou to show Fury the level we’re on. ‘Fury fought him? I’ll fight him.’ I tried to fight opponents Fury has boxed against [Otto Wallin was another] to showcase that we’re here and on the same level.”
