Despite having still not yet locked horns in the ring, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have arguably been British boxing’s biggest rivals over the past decade.
Fury and Joshua have been the biggest names in the heavyweight division, and have had plenty of verbal back and forths to boot.
However, ‘The Gypsy King’ has remarkably came out with some compassionate words about his countryman following his shock KO defeat to Daniel Dubois last month.
‘AJ’ was stopped inside five rounds by Dubois at Wembley Stadium, falling short in his bid to become a three-time heavyweight world champion and potentially set up a money-spinning clash with Fury in 2025.
The Morecambe man, who was ringside that night, told Sky Sports he “feels sorry” for Joshua, before adding he’d still be interested in fighting him “if he had 20 losses.”
“I feel sorry for him at the minute, being cleaned out in the last fight in five rounds, so he’ll have to do that again – or not – and then decide his future.
“I’ve said after every [Anthony Joshua] loss I’ve felt deflated.
“When an adversary loses, and it’s not to you, you do feel down and depressed about it. I felt sad for him. It was sad to see a worthy opponent lose his crown.”
“𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀!” 😲@Tyson_Fury was NOT happy at being removed from the IBF’s top 15 rankings after his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in May…#Boxing #TysonFury #UsykFury2 pic.twitter.com/npjINlsK7w
— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) October 24, 2024
“I’d still fight him whether he’s got five losses, 10 losses or 20. It’s not important because, at this stage of our careers, it’s about having good fights.
“I think it would still be an entertaining and interesting fight for the paying pundit.”
The expectation had been that Joshua would jump straight back in with Dubois in February, however it is looking increasingly likely that he will swerve an immediate rematch.
As for Fury, he faces arguably the toughest test of his storied career on December 21st, when he will attempt to reverse the result of his sole defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
