Anthony Joshua has launched a scathing attack on Tyson Fury, branding the fellow former world heavyweight champion with a two-word expletive after Fury used Daniel Dubois's victory over Joshua as a point of reference. The 36-year-old Joshua, who is preparing for a bout against Kristian Prenga on 25 July in Saudi Arabia, spoke to the media ahead of his press conference in London on Monday.
Joshua's Response to Fury's Comments
Fury had recently commented on Dubois's 2024 knockout of Joshua, noting that Dubois had not dropped other opponents like Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic, Fabio Wardley, or Oleksandr Usyk, but had put Joshua on the canvas multiple times. Fury said: 'I'm not saying Anthony Joshua's chinless, but they're the facts. Take it as you wish and as you will. Everybody else never went over, not a singular person – Big Baby Miller, Hrgovic, Usyk or Wardley, but Joshua goes down five times. Chinny, get up!'
Joshua responded by criticising Fury for riding on Dubois's success. 'I just felt like, as a boss, you can't ride the next man's success. It's Dubois's success. How are you sitting there thinking that, because Dubois had success, 'Yeah, that's what part of what I'm doing'? It shows the type of mentality that he has. That's not a boss; a boss is gonna create his own lane and talk about what he's done and what he's achieved. We could all talk about what Francis Ngannou done to him, we can talk about what Usyk done to him, we can talk about loads of comparisons. But for him to talk about Dubois's success and use it as his own, shows me that he's a d***-rider.'
Background on the Rivalry
Joshua and Fury, both 37, are contracted to fight each other later this year, but Joshua must first overcome Prenga. Fury is also eyeing a warm-up fight in Dublin on 1 August, having last fought in April, outpointing Arslanbek Makhmudov in Tottenham. Joshua's most recent outing was a stoppage of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in December.
Joshua has been training with Usyk in Ukraine and was asked if he had learned any tricks from the Ukrainian on how to beat Fury. 'I've fought Alex, and he didn't need to do that with me. What I'm saying is, what Alex does to Fury... we're all different characters. Maybe [I'd ask about those things], but... I know he read Fury's book before he fought him, and you learn a lot about someone when you get to understand their psyche. So yeah, I will definitely look at Fury's psyche, but my true battle is in the ring – it's not in a press conference. Yeah, I will [buy his book]. I'll get someone to nick it!' Joshua laughed.
In the Dubois fight, Joshua was dropped four times, with one slip ruled separately. Fury also referenced his own 2023 bout with Ngannou, where he was dropped and narrowly won on points, as well as his two losses to Usyk. Joshua, meanwhile, has suffered two defeats to Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
Joshua also survived a car crash in Nigeria ten days after his win over Paul, an accident that claimed the lives of his teammates Sina Ghami and Latif 'Latz' Ayodele.
