(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on December 14, 2020 shows Boxer Tyson Fury (L) during a press conference in Los Angeles, California on January 25, 2020, and British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua during a press conference in Ad Diriyah, a Unesco-listed heritage site, outside Riyadh, on December 4, 2019. (Photos by RINGO CHIU and FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP)
Anthony Joshua has said he needs a fight against Tyson Fury “on my record” before his career is finished because boxing as a whole required at least one bout between the two British heavyweights.
Between them, the two boxers currently hold all the major versions of the heavyweight world title.
Talks of a unification ‘superfight’, which went on for months, appeared to be on the brink of ending in an agreement earlier this year only for a United States arbitrator to rule Fury had to fight Deontay Wilder for a third time.
As a result, Fury, having previously drawn with and then stopped Wilder, is set to make the maiden defense of his World Boxing Council (WBC) belt against the American in Las Vegas next month.
Before then, Joshua is set to face World Boxing Organization (WBO) mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk in London on September 25, with a crowd of some 60,000 expected at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the home of the Premier League club.
But Joshua, also the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion, knows that a fight against Fury is the contest boxing fans want to see and that a question mark will hang over his career if he does not face the ‘Gypsy King’.
“Do I need Tyson Fury on my record? I need it,” Joshua told the BBC 5 Live boxing podcast.
“We need it for boxing. It’s what we all need, I need it. Come on, let’s see how good I am.
“Fight good fighters and they bring out the best of you. Training camp is hard. To get better is very difficult in boxing. To fight Tyson Fury is a big challenge.”
Joshua added: “Let’s see how far I can take myself during this period. It’ll be a good challenge mentally. Not about him, but because I actually want to do well.
“When I wake up in the morning early and I’m tired, my body’s battered, I still go out and do what I do. It’s great rewards and only someone like Fury can give that to me.”