Joshua disapproves of Fury’s habit of disrespecting opponents and other fighters with insults
Anthony Joshua is pleased with former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s recent loss to Oleksandr Usyk on May 18th.
Joshua disapproves of Fury’s habit of disrespecting opponents and other fighters with insults, acting as if they are beneath him. AJ believes Fury has avoided tough fighters. When Fury finally faced a strong opponent, he was exposed. Now, with a loss on his record, Fury is likely to lose the December 21st rematch against Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs).
“I’m glad Fury isn’t the undisputed champion. I’ve always said he’s an idiot; he’s very disrespectful. He has to step on people to make himself feel good,” Joshua said in media reports.
Joshua fails to mention that Fury was never as impressive as casual, non-critical fans believed. The best name on Fury’s record is Wladimir Klitschko, who was 39 years and eight months old when they fought on November 28, 2015.
Imagine the 35-year-old Fury facing a top 10 opponent when he’s 39 in four years; it wouldn’t be a pretty picture if the opponent is even remotely good.
“The way he disrespected Usyk, ‘rabbit’ this and ‘middleweight’ that. It’s not good for the sport,” added Joshua.
I always believed Fury was only looking out for himself and didn’t consider the impact on the sport. His actions may benefit him, but they could harm the sport, especially if other fighters start imitating his behavior toward opponents.
Fury’s trash-talking might be his strategy to sell fights by playing the villain, but he takes it too far. It’s difficult to listen to him belittle his opponents.
“Fury will step on you and make you look like a guy who’s just walked out of a pub. Then he goes and gets spanked; he deserves it,” continued Joshua.
If Joshua dislikes Fury so much, why is he so eager to fight him? You’d think AJ would want to avoid the aging, out-of-shape fighter he despises.
Yesterday, when Fury told Turki Alalshikh that he would win his rematch with Usyk, Joshua responded, “No, you won’t.” Joshua doesn’t believe Fury will win against WBA/WBC/WBO champion Usyk, meaning Fury would enter a fight against Joshua with consecutive losses. Why would Joshua want to fight Fury then?