Anthony Joshua insists that he is not insulted by rival Tyson Fury’s ongoing verbal jabbing and jiving, and intends to use it as motivation if the pair ever grace the ring together.
After Fury was forced to relinquish his IBF heavyweight title, which he claimed after defeating Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, he began berating Joshua following the latter’s win over Charles Martin in 2016 to claim that same belt.
Personal issues on Fury’s side, alongside anti-doping discrepancies, saw him fighting demons in the wilderness before he eventually returned to action in 2018.
The two British rivals had reportedly been close to agreeing to terms on a blockbuster pay-per-view encounter on separate occasions. First, in 2020, Fury claimed a deal had been struck between the pair – but without disclosing details other than that the fight would take place in 2021. The announcement of the proposed deal caused a stir, as Fury acknowledged the controversial Daniel Kinahan for his apparent role in negotiations between the feuding rivals.
Court action from Deontay Wilder in 2021 derailed the prospect of Joshua sharing a ring with his domestic rival, as former WBC titleholder Wilder successfully enforced his contractual obligations to a trilogy fight with “The Gypsy King.” Fury and Wilder had been set to fight a third time, in July 2021, but did not proceed due to Fury contracting COVID-19. Wilder’s successful court action to enforce his legal rights brought heavy speculation to a close regarding the possibility of a fight between Fury and Joshua in the later months of 2021.
After Joshua’s back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk, Fury and promoter Frank Warren attempted to strike a deal for Fury to defend his WBC world heavyweight title against Joshua in December of 2022, at Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Despite Joshua having verbally agreed to face Fury, negotiations ultimately collapsed due to differing opinions on the financial terms of the fight.
When talks with his counterpart collapsed, Fury decided to face Dereck Chisora for a third time, in December 2022.
Joshua, in a recent appearance on “The Jonathan Ross Show,” said he will use Fury’s regular taunts as motivation if the fighters do eventually come to blows in the ring.
“He is one of my rivals,” Joshua said of Fury. “This is someone I want to compete with one day.
“So everything he says, I’ve got it all stored in the back of my memory. And when the fight happens, I’m going to use it as a lot of fuel.”
Joshua, a former unified heavyweight champion, admitted to Ross that he has been personally affected by Fury’s taunts, insisting that he will “punish” Fury for his public comments about Joshua in recent years.
“One-hundred percent,” Joshua said. “You take it personally and you meditate on it. You want to punish them for what they said about you.”