Nigerian British boxer Anthony Joshua has called Tyson Fury “a fraud” in a furious social media exchange after the news that their heavyweight showdown might be off. The two boxers were looking ready for a highly-anticipated match come August, but an arbitration hearing ruled Fury must first face American Deontay Wilder.
According to Anthony Joshua, he said: “You’ve let boxing down. You lied to the fans and led them on. Used my name for clout, not a fight.” The boxer made this tweet on his Twitter handle, but Fury challenged him to a bare-knuckle fight in response.
The teams behind the two British heavyweights have engaged in lengthy negotiations to get what has been billed as one of the biggest fights in heavyweight boxing for decades over the line. Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Joshua, was adamant about their fight, which was agreed on Sunday. Fury told his Instagram followers that he has also signed off on a 14 August bout in Saudi Arabia.
Just 24 hours later, Wilder’s team, who had always said he had a contract in place for a third Fury fight – found out their arbitration hearing was successful. 32-years-old Fury won the WBC world heavyweight title after beating Wilder in a rematch in February 2020 after an initial draw.
Joshua accused Fury in a tweet, saying: “If there was an arbitration going on, why to announce to the world we are fighting! The fight was signed.” He turned down Fury’s offer of a “fight this weekend bare-knuckles till one man quits” for £20m each.
AJ went ahead to tweet, “I’ll slap your bald head, and you’ll do nothing.” Fury then called Joshua a “bottle job” and claimed: “I’ll smoke wilder first, then you will get yours as well (sic).” Anthony Joshua holds the WBO, WBA and IBF belts, meaning Fury would have been the first heavyweight for all four world titles.