Anthony Joshua says heavyweight rival ‘let the whole boxing world down’ after fight plans collapsed

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Anthony Joshua has accused heavyweight rival Tyson Fury of letting the boxing world down, Sky Sports report.

Joshua will have initially have been expecting to go toe-to-toe with Fury in a fight which was expected to be staged in Saudi Arabia later this summer.

However, after Tyson Fury was ordered to fight Deontay Wilder for a third time, and the American refused to stand aside from the opportunity to win his WBC belt back, the fight was off.

Fury will be taking on Wilder, while Joshua will be fighting WBO mandatory Oleksandr Usyk.

While they are, in their own right, good fights for the fans to watch, everyone wanted the all-British tussle to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and Joshua recognises that.

READ MORE: ‘This is retaliation’ – Deontay Wilder vows to shock the world in Tyson Fury trilogy fight

Anthony Joshua poses with his belts

Speaking to Sky Sports, Joshua has accused Fury of letting the fans down:

“Unfortunately his team let the whole boxing world down.”

“I will still be here, still ready to put on a show.”

“End of the year. Let me get past Usyk first. But with or without Usyk in my life, I will fight Fury. Usyk isn’t the be-all and end-all.”

“Usyk doesn’t determine the Fury fight. The Fury fight has to happen. It’s a big fight, bigger than boxing, bigger than the belts.

“It will happen. After the Usyk fight, after I defend my belts. The fight will be bigger, better than what it would have been.”

It’s hard to imagine just what alternative there was for Fury, who presumably would have had to stump up a serious amount of cash in order to convince Wilder to stand aside.

AJ is understandably frustrated not to have got his shot at Fury now, but he’ll get it eventually – we hope…

Anthony Joshua’s bout with the WBC mandatory challenger is set to take place at a Premier League ground – read the full story here

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