Anthony Joshua wants Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder and then Tyson Fury, and says he would beat them all
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Anthony Joshua during the press conference for his fight against Dillian Whyte on Aug 12.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Anthony Joshua said he does not consider his next opponent Dillian Whyte “a rival”, adding that his dream scenario would be to fight Whyte, Deontay Wilder and then Tyson Fury in the heavyweight division, adding that he could beat all of them.
The former unified heavyweight champion will fight fellow Briton Whyte at The O2 in London on Aug 12.
They last clashed in December 2015, in a fight that Joshua ended via knockout. However, he lost to Whyte in 2009 during their amateur days.
Said 2012 super-heavyweight Olympic champion Joshua: “I don’t really look at Dillian as a rival. Just another body. A lot of people hate on me. I don’t look on Dillian as a rival. I just watch myself.”
He might be focused on himself, but he could not resist taking a dig at fellow former unified heavyweight champion Fury, calling him a “time waster”.
The pair had been set to fight last December, but talks broke down.
The 33-year-old told Sky Sports: “I’m not disappointed because we know why. People are starting to see. This is just how boxing goes sometimes. People are just... it’s just a shame.
“But it is what it is, none of my business. If that was me, I would have gone in there and fought, but it’s not me, so I can’t really comment on another man’s decisions.
“Yeah, it would be (a dream scenario to fight Whyte, Wilder, and then Fury). But dreams are fake. This is reality.”
He added that he could beat them all.
Joshua has never fought professionally with Fury or Wilder, but he did spar with Fury in 2010 when the former Olympic champion was still an amateur.
Current unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, meanwhile, will take on another Briton in Daniel Dubois on Aug 26 in Wroclaw, Poland.
The 36-year-old Ukrainian, like Fury, has yet to lose in his professional career. But like the Joshua-Fury fight, the clash between the unbeaten heavyweights also fell through.
Joshua, who lost to Usyk in 2021 and 2022,
He said: “What happened with the champ (Fury) saying ‘I’m training for Usyk, then his coach comes out and says ‘I’m not training for him’. You’ve got to call him out.
“If that was me, what would people say? I’m going to start holding people accountable. Yes Usyk didn’t duck, Fury did.”
