Tyson Fury has mocked Anthony Joshua for refusing to step aside in boxing’s enormous row between heavyweights during a typically outlandish Instagram video rant.
The world heavyweight champion is due to face mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte at some point in spring, but a deal has yet to be struck and purse bids scheduled to take place on Monday evening were postponed for a fourth time until Friday as the WBC tries to allow the two fighters’ camps to come to an agreement.
Whyte became Fury’s mandatory as Joshua faces an obligatory re-match with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, who defeated the Londoner at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in September. Fury and his team want Joshua to accept a financial offer to step aside from the second Usyk fight so that the Gypsy King can face The Cat instead.
Fury mocked Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn for what he perceives as their poor business acumen, “Had to do this video. Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua have to be the worst damn businessmen in history! Today they lost $90m, goddamn sons of b****es, crazy! Fury subsequently turned his attention to Whyte, telling him: “Time to step up and take your beating,”
The origin of the $90m figure Fury references is unclear, though the offer for his and Usyk’s potential fight is believed to come from the Middle East, where bouts are especially lucrative.
Earlier this week, Hearn confirmed that an offer had been made for Joshua to bow out from the Usyk re-match, and said the ultimate decision lies with the fighter.
“There has been an offer,” he told the DAZN Boxing Show. “There have been several discussions with myself. I can’t rule it out, it’s not my job. AJ is the boss. He’s very smart about the plan. He won’t want to do it. Anthony has never ducked anyone, he won’t want to let one person think he’s ducking that challenge. Sometimes you have to think with your head; there is a smart play here somewhere, but Anthony is not about the money.”
In the meantime, Fury has been calling out each of Joshua, Whyte, and Oleksandr Usyk and says he does not care which of the three he fights next. “Joshua is a coward, Usyk’s a p**** and Dillian Whyte don’t want to fight, so if you can prove me wrong, get to f***ing fighting,” he bellowed in a separate social media outburst earlier this week. “You’re all cowards, you’re all bum dossers, either fight or do one you pack of wet lettuces.”
