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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Alex Pattle

Tyson Fury asks Anthony Joshua to be in his corner for Dillian Whyte fight

Getty Images

Tyson Fury has invited Anthony Joshua to be in his corner for Saturday’s heavyweight title fight against Dillian Whyte.

Fury defends the WBC belt against fellow Briton Whyte at Wembley Stadium in front of 94,000 fans.

And Fury, 33, has offered for Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn – who also promotes Whyte – to be among those in attendance.

“Yeah, they’re invited, they can be my guests. I’ve got a couple of tickets there,” Fury told iFL TV.

“I’ll give one to Eddie out of my ticket allocation and I’ll give two to AJ, because he needs two – the fatness of him these days! I’ll give him a couple of tickets that I’ll pay for, they can come as my personal guests.

“AJ, he can help in the corner with me if he wants. I know he don’t like Dillian Whyte, so he can if he wants.”

Joshua knocked out Whyte in 2015, avenging an amateur defeat by the “Bodysnatcher”.

Fury has suggested that he will retire after fighting Whyte, 34, with fans seemingly set to be deprived of a long-awaited bout between the WBC champion and compatriot Joshua, who previously held the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles on two occasions.

Fury, who also held those belts in the past, looked set to box Joshua twice this year under a deal that appeared to have been struck in 2021, but the “Gypsy King” was contractually obliged to fight Deontay Wilder for a third time, and Joshua had to face mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk.

Anthony Joshua (right) lost his heavyweight belts to Oleksandr Usyk last year (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Archive)

Fury stopped Wilder for the second fight in a row in October, a month after Usyk outpointed Joshua to take the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles.

A step-aside deal was proposed in January, one which would have seen Fury and Usyk fight each other in a unification bout, but that deal reportedly fell through due to Joshua’s monetary demands.

“AJ’s had his chance more than once,” Fury said. “He’s had his chance about 10 times to fight me, and for his greed and wanting all the time, it’s not happening.

“But it’s no skin off my nose, he ain’t a virgin any more; he’s been beat.

“In what world could he have ever beaten me anyway? There’s no debate. It’s not an exciting fight. It’s only for money anyway.

“If I fought Joshua now I wouldn’t be gaining anything, because people don’t think he can beat me anyway.”

While Fury defends the WBC belt against mandatory challenger Whyte this weekend, Joshua is expected to fight Usyk again in July.

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