‘Not one heavyweight in his prime’: Tyson Fury reveals disdain for Anthony Joshua’s previous opponents

Tyson Fury has spoken disparagingly about heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua’s professional record by claiming he has not fought one opponent “in his prime”.

Joshua, who will take on former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 25 September, has marquee wins to his name over Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, Kubrat Pulev, Joseph Parker and Dillian Whyte.

Meanwhile, Fury’s most notable victories have come against Klitschko – who he beat 18 months before Joshua – and Deontay Wilder last year.

WBC champion Fury will fight Wilder for a third time on 9 October in Las Vegas, but he was due to meet Joshua in a clash for all the belts before an arbitrator ruled that he had to face the American once more.

And former Manchester United defender Gary Neville quizzed the 33-year-old on why boxing continues to let big fights pass fans by.

Fury said on Neville’s The Overlap show: “I do think that the best boxers do fight each other eventually, but it’s not gonna happen when everyone calls for it.

“It only happens when, say, one boxer’s on the slide and one’s in his prime. Then you get them wanting to fight each other.

“But you very rarely get two prime fighters fight each other. Because one of them is always a bit wary that they’re gonna lose.”

Then speaking specifically about Joshua’s resume, he added: “Anthony Joshua’s fought not one heavyweight in his prime.

“He fought Wladimir Klitschko at 42 years old, Kubrat Pulev [was] 40-odd, Alexander Povetkin [was] 40-odd.

“They’re all former good men, back in the early 2000s, late 2000s, but not in 2020-odd. They were good men 10 years ago.”