Fury branded the bout one of the worst heavyweight fights he’d ever seen.
Eddie Hearn has hit back at Tyson Fury following comments made in the wake of Anthony Joshua’s defeat to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night.
The Gypsy King came straight out of retirement after watching the bout, saying he would “annihilate” both of the fighters on the same night.
He branded the Saudi Arabia-hosted contest one of the worst heavyweight fights he’d ever seen on social media.
THE GYPSY KING IS HERE TO STAY!!!@WBCBoxing @frankwarren_tv pic.twitter.com/DaDCfbQvPI
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) August 20, 2022
Joshua lost by split-decision to Usyk.
The 32-year-old gave an improved showing in Jeddah but was ultimately outclassed once again by his Ukrainian adversary over 12 rounds, with Usyk retaining his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts.
Afterwards, Joshua appeared to yell at the governing bodies in attendance and tossed Usyk’s belts out of the ring before storming off, only to return moments later to grab the microphone and give a bizarre rant.
In his post-fight press conference, Joshua also broke down in tears and promoter Hearn feels his fighter’s emotional reaction was simply his frustrations – both at losing and towards the governing bodies – boiling over.
Talking to iFL TV, boxing promoter Hearn defended Joshua’s comments.
He said: “He was frustrated. He’s held onto those belts for a long time and those governing bodies have charged him a lot of money and put a lot of mandatories on him.
“And I think he’s lost a lot of faith in the system and I think he’s started to actually not be interested in fighting for belts anymore.
“I think he just wants to fight for enjoyment and just to challenge himself. Of course he wanted to be undisputed, and a lot of that was just frustration.
“And he left the ring, because he knew “I’m going to do something stupid here” and then he thought to himself “I can’t, because it’s a bad look” so he went back in the ring and he gave a speech – which was a little bit out there. But it was just pure emotion, and that was from the heart.”
Hearn was also asked about Fury’s insults, and responded: “Na, listen, this is a proper man here [Joshua], you know what I mean? A proper man who don’t talk s**t, doesn’t tell lies, he gives everybody his time.
“I don’t know Tyson Fury well enough. This guy here [AJ] is my friend, he’s a great individual, he gave everything tonight. If you want to goad him for that then you are what you are.”
Asked again in a separate interview about Fury, Hearn said: “You saw the reaction of [Joshua] there. In Tyson Fury, this is a guy who openly says he’s had all these mental health problems and struggles, stuff like that.
“You see a guy [AJ] up there crying, as big and strong as AJ, who for years has put on a brave face. And tonight you just saw chinks in the armour.
“So if you want to see a guy who’s been through this “mental health” experience and goading someone when they’re down and when they’re devastated, that shows you the kind of man he [Fury] is.”
