If Anthony Joshua won’t fight Deontay Wilder, then former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury says he will. He even went so far as to suggest that the current WBA, IBF and WBO champion is a “disgrace to boxing.”
Fury posted a video on his Twitter account blasting Joshua for not agreeing to face Wilder and trashed the champion.
MORE: Anthony Joshua's message to Deontay Wilder: 'Know your place'
"I think it's such a sad time for heavyweight boxing," said Fury, who will face Francesco Pianeta on August 18 as he continues his road back after a two-year absence. "You've got the so-called super champion and golden boy Anthony Joshua and he is avoiding Deontay Wilder and is not fighting him at any cost.”
Joshua and Wilder were initially engaged in talks for a unification bout. However, it all fell apart as the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement. Both sides have differing perspectives on why a deal couldn’t come together, but Fury clearly sides with Wilder.
"If you're not going to fight him for £40m you're not going to fight him for anything,” Fury continued. "It's a disgrace and he's a disgrace to boxing and I think it needs somebody good enough to step up and take on the challenges and not be afraid, not be afraid to take risks and go to people's backyards and do it.”
And if somebody is going to challenge Wilder in the United States, Fury said that he would be more than up for the task.
"Can you imagine if I went to America and beat Deontay Wilder in America after beating Wladimir Klitschko in Germany? That would be sensational, it might happen, who knows, wait for the news."
Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles back in November of 2015. However, personal issues have kept the boisterous Englishman out of the ring since then. A rematch with Klitschko was set for July 2016 but was cancelled after an ankle injury forced Fury out of the bout. Shortly after, it was revealed that Fury had been dealing with depression after a positive test for cocaine and remained out of the ring. He returned on June 9 to face Sefer Seferi and came out victorious after forcing Seferi to quit on the stool after round four.
In the interim, Joshua went on to defeat Klitschko and currently holds all of the titles aside from the WBC, which Wilder has held since knocking out Bermaine Stiverne in 2015. Joshua will square off with Alexander Povetkin on September 22nd at Wembley Stadium while Wilder's next fight has yet to be announced.
