Former boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua says he is ready to fight WBC and Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson HFury in December after being called out by his fellow Brit.
Fury had hoped to face Oleksandr Usyk to crown the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999, but the Ukrainian revealed over the weekend that he will not be ready until next year. He wants to return to Ukraine and spend time with his family.
But Fury, determined to fight again in 2022, has turned his attention to Joshua.
The British rivals were set to meet in Saudi Arabia last summer before the deal was quashed when Fury was ordered to face Deontay Wilder for the third time. Since then, Fury has made two defences of his world title while Joshua has lost back-to-back fights against Usyk.
Taking to social media on Monday night, September 5, Joshua accepted a fight with Fury – if terms can be agreed.
“Yea, calm. I don’t do the online discussions just for clout, so if you really serious about it shout 258 Management. I’ll be ready in December,” Joshua tweeted.
Last month, Oleksandr Usyk stormed through his rematch fight against Anthony Joshua in Jeddah on Saturday to retain his heavyweight titles by a split decision.
The 35-year-old Ukrainian proved unbeatable during the 12-round contest, maintaining his steely nerve to dominate Joshua with a series of heavy blows. Joshua appeared to break Usyk’s momentum in the ninth round and landed a spell of punches on his opponent, before retreating into defeat.
He was awarded a score of 115-113 from one judge, but Usyk ultimately emerged the stronger contender and earned scores of 115-113 and 116-112 from two judges to retain his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles.
