By Tim Parsons-
Anthony Joshua has thrown the gauntlet down to rival Tyson Fury for an Easter showdown, if the huge and long awaited fight between him and Deontay Wilder does not happen in April then he would “happily fight Tyson Fury”, The Daily Telegraph reports
Joshua takes on mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin at Wembley on 22 September, and has another date booked for the national stadium in London on the 13th of April, 2018.
The plan is to fight American Wilder, the WBC champion, but fellow Brit Fury could be lined up instead. Joshua said: “There’s no stopping him [Fury] from stepping up. If the Wilder fight doesn’t happen in April, I will happy fight Tyson Fury he said.
Fury fights fights Italian Francesco Pianetta in August for his second come back after a two year absence in the sport. It is part of his planned four warm up fights before he goes into the deep end. Fury will easily beat the Italian and would be expected to fight a name like Tony Bellew after, setting himself up for a meeting with Joshua if the Wilder fight does not happen. Boxing fans would rather see Joshua face Wilder, having waited long for this, but financial and logistical issues has so far been a stumbling block.
The American has insisted on a 50-50 split after three month talks produced nothing. Joshua’s team have always said that their man is the A side and must get the larger share of any split between the pair, but the WBC champion at the moment believes he is a feared champion who deserves an even split. After an earlier offer of $50m to Joshua to fight in America was turned down in favour of a Uk venue, a compromise from Wilder still produced no result over other contractual technicalities.
“We were close a few times of getting it done. “I’ve already signed my part of the contract. I’m about doing the business, and then talking about it. Wilder can come on Sept 22. If he wants to get in the ring, that’s no problem, but he ain’t getting in the ring unless he signs a contract. You’re not going to make a name out of this. Sign the contract and let’s talk about the fight.” Joshua said he was not impressed by Fury’s comeback fight in June. “I’m not impressed. He’s not in condition. Get back in the gym. More boxing. What do we do, two sessions a day? I’d rather do two boxing sessions a day.
Why do one boxing and focus on one run. Are you trying to be a part-time track runner and a part-time boxer? Get in the gym, focus on your gym work. And that’s what Klitschko told me: the best fighters spend more time in the gym than anywhere else”.