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Anthony Joshua has backed bitter heavyweight rival Tyson Fury to beat Deontay Wilder in their highly-anticipated trilogy fight next month.
Wilder and the Gypsy King are going to meet for a third time after a judged ruled on the legitimacy at the American’s right to a rematch following his brutal defeat in Las Vegas back in February 2020.
The court ruling scuppered any chance of seeing Joshua and Fury square off in a huge British unification fight this summer. Joshua is now likely to face mandatory opponent Oleksandr Usyk in September.
Joshua is currently training with Team GB’s boxing hopefuls in their camp before they jet off for this summer’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
During an interview with talkSPORT on Thursday, Joshua was asked who he was backing to win between his heavyweight rivals.
After briefly hesitating, Joshua said: ‘I don’t mind, I don’t mind.
‘But Fury won the last one so I’ll go with Fury because you’re only as good as your last performance. But good luck to them both.’
Asked about his plans for the immediate future, Joshua insisted he’s ‘got no other option’ than to beat Usyk and continue to work towards that unification fight in the future.
He added: ‘I’ve got to defend my title. I’m going to be training alongside the team preparing for my championship fight while these guys prepare for the Olympics.
‘I’m going to win because I have to. I’ve got no other option and then I’m going to get on to the next fight which is the undisputed.
‘So we’re back on the road to undisputed, I’m supporting the Olympic boys and then when they finish with a bang hopefully the next fight I have will be an undisputed fight so there will be so many eyes on the boxing scene in 2021 and 2022.’
Earlier this week, Joshua produced a withering assessment of Wilder by claiming the ‘Bronze Bomber’ is ‘not an elite level fighter’.
The American is full of confidence in winning back his WBC heavyweight belt and has talked up his next move, chief among them being to fight Joshua for the undisputed title.
But Joshua suggested there are levels to greatness – and Wilder is not on his level.
Joshua told Sky Sports: ‘I’m an elite level fighter, not one of the tomato cans he’s knocked out.
‘He better watch what he’s saying because when the day comes for me and him, I know what I’m capable of doing.
‘He ain’t an elite level fighter.’
Joshua continued his takedown of the Alabama fighter by going on to add that Wilder’s explosive right hand is his only ‘weapon’ and no heavyweight champion can ‘go to war’ with just one in his armoury.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has already revealed the fight contract with Usyk – which is still to be officially confirmed – will include a rematch clause.
When asked by BetFred if there would be a clause in place, Hearn replied: ‘There will be,’ insisting the term was not holding up negotiations.
‘All the terms are agreed and that was a prior term. When you talk about a rematch clause, it’s also the biggest fight that fighter could have.
‘Sometimes people think, “that’s a bad thing”. It’s actually sometimes a good thing. Andy Ruiz ended up getting quite a lot of money for his rematch, but it’s a massive opportunity. If Oleksandr Usyk wins, he then makes an absolute fortune to fight AJ again.’
Source: Dailymail
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