Fury on Anthony Joshua fight: “There’s no glamour in fighting a coward”

By Boxing News - 11/22/2022 - Comments

By Barry Holbrook: Anthony Joshua won’t be a “glamour” fight, according to Tyson Fury. He feels that Joshua is a “coward’ because he failed to sign the contract to fight him on December 3rd.

With that said, WBC heavyweight champion Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) is still highly interested in facing Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) before he retires and will likely push for the bout after he faces unified champ Oleksandr Usyk early next year.

Joshua was given two deadlines by Fury that he failed to meet for the December 3rd date at Tottenham Hot Spurs Stadium in London. So instead of Fury facing Joshua, he enlisted his old buddy, Derek Chisora, to fill the date.

It would have been a better idea if Fury had selected a higher-ranked, more relevant contender than #13 WBC Chisora. Still, he says he felt he owed it to his old friend because he gave him a shot at his British & Commonwealth heavyweight titles in their first fight in 2011.

“No, there’s no glamour in fighting a coward, none. I don’t fight cowards; I only fight real men. That’s a glamour fight? No way. My glamour fight was fighting the 42-0 Deontay Wilder in America,” said Tyson Fury to Queensbury when asked if a fight with Anthony Joshua would be a “glamour” one for him.

If it bothers Fury so much about fighting Joshua, he doesn’t need to. He can fight many other contenders in the division, like Joe Joyce, Frank Sanchez, Filip Hrgovic, and Daniel Dubois.

Joyce has lost three out of his last five fights, and his career is quickly heading downhill. If Fury is less money conscious, he should forget about Joshua and focus on fighters doing well and still winning.

“The first time heavyweight champions faced each other undefeated since Ali fought Frazier for the first time,” said Fury about his first fight with Deontay Wilder in 2018. “This other bum fight with Joshua was a bit like a Sunday roast.

“People only respected it in England, and Usyk will be a walk in the park. I’ll butcher him.

“Back by December 3rd, followed by February, and if Usyk doesn’t want any smoke in February, we’re going after Joe Joyce because he, in my opinion, is ranked #2 behind myself.

“Maybe three because I don’t think anybody in the world can take Deontay Wilder’s power besides myself,” said Fury.