By David Charlesworth PA,Steve Wollaston
Copyright birminghammail
Anthony Joshua launched a scathing attack on “dippy” Tyson Fury and appeared to provoke his heavyweight rival into a long-awaited all-British clash. Joshua is currently back in training after undergoing elbow surgery but isn’t anticipated to step back into the ring until early next year, having last competed 12 months ago when he suffered a brutal knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois. The 35 year old is staying informed about the current state of boxing’s premier division and praised former opponent Joseph Parker alongside Fabio Wardley, who are set to meet on October 25 at London’s O2 Arena to position themselves as top contenders to challenge undisputed world champion Oleksandr Usyk. Nevertheless, Joshua also rekindled his ongoing rivalry with Parker’s training partner Fury and appears to remain hopeful they will eventually face each other in 2026, despite the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ announcing his retirement from boxing in January. “I can’t lie, I’m proud of Joseph Parker,” Joshua posted on his Instagram story. “Even though he is a competitor, real recognises real. “He’s in the game to fight whoever, whenever and that’s the DNA of a real general. Unlike his dippy mate Tyson Fury. I would dissect his career/record in minutes but I’ll leave that for a potential Gloves Are Off if he ever comes back and fights (me). “Fabio Wardley, respect to you as well. (You were) working in recruitment helping your dad get a job a couple of years ago. Let that be a testament to God rooting in one’s favour and a statement to show, nothing is impossible (if you can have a scrap haha). “To my supporters, I’ll be back to lace up my boots and put on my gloves sooner than later, hopefully punching Fury’s head in and dancing around his flicker jab with ease.” A showdown between Joshua and Fury, two of Britain’s most prominent sporting personalities, has been discussed for several years, especially when the pair held all four major world titles between them from February 2020 to September 2021. An agreement appeared to be reached in 2021 but a US arbitration judge mandated that Fury must defend his WBC crown against Deontay Wilder before Joshua subsequently lost his WBA, IBF and WBO belts to Usyk later that year. Joshua also suffered defeat in the rematch against Usyk, with the Ukrainian having twice outpointed Fury over the past 18 months, leading to Fury declaring his latest retirement at the beginning of the year following his consecutive losses.
