“I was hoping Joshua could win the fight, but he couldn’t.”
Tyson Fury has admitted that he was “absolutely wounded” by Anthony Joshua’s loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua lost to Usyk on points last Saturday (25 September), with the judges scoring the fight 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 all in favour of the Ukrainian – who won the WBA, WBO and IBF titles and became the new heavyweight champion of the world.
Joshua and Fury looked set for a unification fight earlier this year before Fury – who is the WBC champion – was ordered to fight Deontay Wilder following an arbitration hearing.
The Gypsy King has revealed that not only did he watch the fight, but that he was also hoping Joshua would be victorious.
“I was hoping Joshua could win the fight, but he couldn’t – and that’s none of my business,” said Fury.
“Did I watch the fight? Yes I did. Was I absolutely wounded that he won? Yes I was.”
@Tyson_Fury refused to say anything negative about Joshua following his loss to Usyk. pic.twitter.com/8FoFGYb4uw
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) September 30, 2021
Fury is currently preparing to face Wilder in Las Vegas on 9 October in a trilogy bout. The pair drew their first fight in December 2018, with Fury winning the second fight in February 2020 via a seventh round knockout.
The bout was originally scheduled to take place on 24 July, but had to be postponed after the unbeaten Brit tested positive for COVID-19.
“The only thing I’m bothered about is beating Deontay Wilder, and that’s the most dangerous heavyweight out there,” Fury added.
“In my opinion, Wilder beats Joshua, Usyk, all the rest of the division, comfortable – but he cannot beat me.”
The 33-year-old also gave some advice to Joshua, who is planning to activate a rematch clause to fight Usyk again.
“My advice to Joshua in the rematch is get stuck in the best way he knows how, put his best foot forward and swing away, Jack, swing away,” stated Fury.
Despite ‘AJ’ suffering his second career loss, The Gypsy King added that he had “no interest in slating anybody or kicking anybody while they are down” as “it ain’t my style”.
“I like to pick on someone who is doing well, successful, on top of the game – I don’t like picking on people who are down and probably at their lowest point and probably mentally unstable and unwell with a big loss after such a long reign.
“Usyk did his job, he had to do what he had to do, and that’s that, and Joshua has got to do what he has got to do,” said Fury.
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