Joshua labels Fury a 'fraud' in online spat
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
The bout between Anthony Joshua (left) and Tyson Fury could see both athletes make a guaranteed S$100 million each - if it takes place.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON • Anthony Joshua has called fellow Briton Tyson Fury a "fraud" and said his rival was "letting boxing down" after their world heavyweight unification title fight was thrown into doubt.
Joshua (24-0-1) beat Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in December to retain his International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Organisation (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) titles.
He was set to face Fury - who holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) belt - on Aug 14 in Saudi Arabia.
Fury himself confirmed the bout on Twitter over the weekend. According to ESPN, this will potentially be the richest fight in British boxing history with both fighters set to make a guaranteed US$75 million (S$100 million) each.
Not since Britain's Lennox Lewis in 2002 has there been a unified heavyweight champion, so the Fury-Joshua fight would have also been the biggest British boxing fight since the "Battle of Britain" between Lewis and Frank Bruno in 1993.
But Fury was ordered by an American arbitrator on Monday to fight Deontay Wilder before Sept 15, making the unification bout impossible to stage. The Briton won the WBC title from American Wilder in a rematch in February last year.
Joshua, 31, has been livid since then, questioning why Fury, 32, had announced they would fight when arbitration proceedings were still going on.
"Tyson Fury, the world now sees you for the fraud you are. You've let boxing down. You lied to the fans and led them on," the London 2012 Games super heavyweight gold medallist tweeted. "Bring me any championship fighter who can handle their business correctly."
The undefeated Fury (30-0-1) responded by saying Joshua's team knew arbitration was going on and the matter was "out of my hands".
On Tuesday, Fury claimed that American Wilder had requested US$20 million to step aside and allow the mega-fight to go ahead, but indicated his unwillingness to pay up and would rather "smoke Wilder first".
Replying to Joshua's taunts, Fury challenged his would-be opponent to a bare-knuckle fight on Twitter.
The pair proceeded to trade insulting tweets on Wednesday, with Joshua saying he would "slap your bald head and you'll do nothing", while Fury called him a "bum" and "bottlejob".
British media have since reported that Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn is considering alternative plans, including a bout with undefeated Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (18-0-0) - the mandatory challenger for the WBO belt.
REUTERS