Tyson Fury has rejected Joe Joyce 's call out by insisting he has to beat Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight titles before facing him
Joyce, 37, called for a fight with WBC titleholder Fury following his stoppage win over Joseph Parker last weekend. Fury has been in fight talks with Anthony Joshua but claimed his longtime rival missed the proposed deadline to sign his contract on Monday, turning his focus to a fight with Manuel Charr instead.
But 'The Gypsy King' has now performed a U-turn on his decision by claiming promoter Frank Warren has convinced him to go back into fight talks with Joshua. Doubling down on his call out of Fury, Joyce wrote on Twitter : "Let’s go, sign the contract, big boy! No.1 vs No.2 for the lineal"
Fury played down Joyce's fight attempt as "tour time" and said he would prioritise a fight with unified champion Usyk before facing him, replying: "It’s not tour time big Joe I have to win undisputed first vs the middleweight! You also have to build yourself up to the big time!"
Fury had previously insisted that former opponent Deontay Wilder was the second-best heavyweight in the world, behind himself, but has now changed his tune by giving that accolade to Joyce. Fury also hinted at a future fight with Joyce by stating 'The Juggernaut' could take his position as the best heavyweight in the world, but the only way to find out would be if the pair met in the ring.
How do you think a fight between Tyson Fury and Joe Joyce would play out? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
"I've had a lovely day of watching boxing," Fury told fans in an Instagram video. "Watching all of the big fights and studying all of the heavyweights. I've got to say that big Joe Joyce is the second best heavyweight in the world, behind myself. And on his day, given his moment, who knows if he could beat me or not? I think we'll have to find out one of these days.
"I've just looked at these prospects who are mandatories for the world titles; Zhang, Hrgovic, everybody else. I've changed my mind and I think big Joe Joyce is the No.2 heavyweight in the world. And who knows if he's No.1? One day, we'll have to find out who's better out of me and him. But at the moment, I'm ruling the roost because I'm world heavyweight champion and he's not. But he's f***ing coming for everybody, don't you worry about that. Come on big Joe!"
