Anthony Joshua has labelled bitter rival Tyson Fury an “idiot” and admits he’s glad ‘The Gypsy King’ got “spanked” by Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua was ringside back in May to witness Oleksandr Usyk overcome Fury by split decision to win the undisputed heavyweight championship in Saudi Arabia.
Fury, who suffered a first professional defeat, was given a standing eight count during a disastrous ninth round, but rallied to make it to the final bell.
Speaking in June, ‘AJ’, who suffered back-to-back losses to Usyk, described ’The Gypsy King’ as “disrespectful” and insisted he was pleased to see him fall short against the Ukrainian.
“I’m glad Fury isn’t the undisputed champion,” Joshua told Sun Sport.
“I just think he’s an idiot.
“If it was someone else I might think it was a shame.
“I’ve always said he’s an idiot, he’s very disrespectful.
“Not in a way I care but I just feel like he thinks by stepping on other people that makes him feel better.
“I’m in competition with no one. I’m in my own lane but he has to step on people to make himself feel good, and that’s not good.
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“The way he disrespected Usyk, calling him a little rabbit and a middleweight, it’s not good for the sport.
“If I respect you and you respect me we can lift this sport up and people think we are two of the most elite fighters in the world.
“But Fury will step on you and make you look like a guy who’s just walked out of the pub and he’s not on your level.
“Then he goes and gets spanked — he deserves it.”
The pair are set to meet again in a rematch on December 21, also in Saudi Arabia, with ‘AJ’ predicting a second straight victory for his former foe.
Usyk relinquished the IBF belt shortly after his victory over Fury, with Daniel Dubois elevated to full champion.
Joshua, who challenges his British rival for the IBF strap on September 21 at Wembley Stadium, feels a clash with Fury is long overdue.
“It needs to happen, it’s just taking a long time, it needs to happen,” the 34-year-old told Queensberry.
“But, he’s got his hands full and so have I.
“Let’s both do our jobs and we’ll see a positive 2025, I’m sure of it because we know that the people that are listening want to make good things happen.
“So potentially we might see Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury enter into a ring in collaboration with Riyadh Season, here in London.
“But let’s get focused on Daniel, that’s our main objective and we’ll see what happens there.”
