Anthony Joshua renews Tyson Fury war of words by dismissing rival's GOAT claim
Anthony Joshua dismissed Tyson Fury’s own claims that he’s the GOAT of heavyweight boxing as ‘crazy’.
Fury has said: "I’m the best heavyweight there has ever been."
And there are plenty of fight fans who agree with the Gypsy King that his talents are greater than those possessed by Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Rocky Marciano to name but a few.
Former WBA, WBO and IBF champ Joshua, however, doesn’t buy it one bit.
Speaking before his fight with Dillian Whyte bit the dust after the latter failed a drugs test, he said: “Fury was apparently the greatest of all time but I know — I know — for a fact that from an historical point of view there is no way he can be classed as the greatest of all time.
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“Just from a resume point of view and world-title defence point of view, there is no way, it’s just crazy.
“I can go and beat Dillian and fight Deontay Wilder and people will still say, ‘He fought champions, former champions, the best the heavyweight division had to offer in his era but, yeah, he’s a bum, we don’t respect him’.
“One thing I find interesting when it comes to me is that it’s, ‘ Anthony Joshua versus this one’, or, ‘Anthony Joshua versus that one’.
“But it's, ‘Fury versus whoever he wants’, and Deontay Wilder sits silent for two years after he fought Robert Helenius, but I have to fight everyone.
“Fury didn’t fight Joseph Parker when he was champion, he didn’t fight Charles Martin, and whether you rate Martin or not, he was still a champion.
“He didn’t fight me when I was champion.
“There’s more to it, a lot more to it, than just fighting three or four guys from the era.
“I have tried to fight the majority of the top-10 heavyweights of my era. I’ve always fought close to top 10 in the rankings.
“I want to do it for respect. That’s why sometimes I joke I am only doing it for the money, because people don’t give me the respect and respect is massively important for me.”
There’s no love lost between Joshua and his rivals, and especially not Whyte, and even when their careers are over, Fury, Whyte, Wilder and Co won’t be getting an invite to AJ Towers to chew over the old days with a beer in hand and the barbecue blazing.
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Joshua added: “Wladimir Klitschko, yes, and, look, we’re all subject to change, but where I stand now, the others, f**k them, no way, they can never come to my barbecue.
“I don’t like them at all.”
Asked which fighters he would invite, the 33-year-old said: “Luke Campbell, me and him and really close, we talk well. Tasha Jonas, she’s really funny, me and her talk all the time.
“Who else? There aren’t many. Probably Richard Riakporhe, he’s cool.
“Derek Chisora… And someone in the background just said Carl Froch… I don’t know.”
Joshua’s third clash with Whyte — his second as a professional — was cancelled yesterday after confirmation that the Brixton-born fighter had failed a drugs test.
A statement from Matchroom Boxing, Joshua’s promoters, read: “Today, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) informed Matchroom, the Association of Boxing Commissions and the British Boxing Board of Control that Dillian Whyte had returned adverse analytical findings as part of a random anti-doping protocol.
“In light of this news, the fight will be cancelled, and a full investigation will be conducted.”
Joshua will work with his team and Hearn to find a replacement for his old foe.
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