WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has often spoke down on his heavyweight rivals, believing that few, if any, are worthy of facing him.
Having said that, ‘The Gypsy King’ has admitted that there is one contender in the division that he maintains utmost respect for.
Fury is scheduled to take part in one of the biggest fights since the turn of the millennium, as he prepares to take on Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight title on December 23, with some time built in for delay.
Despite the Ukrainian holding three of the four world titles in the division, the Brit has dubbed him as a ‘nobody’ and claimed that the former undisputed cruiserweight champion has done nothing to earn a shot at dethroning him.
Instead, the undefeated 35-year-old told Boxing King Media that you have to ‘100%’ respect fellow Brit, Anthony Joshua, due their similar background.
“I remember Ola Afolabi, former cruiserweight champion, he gave me a pair of Winning boxing gloves when I was first turning pro, they were all f***ed up, all ripped, and I wore them for another four years. I was like ‘a world champion gave me these, they are unbelievable’, I wore them until they literally rotted off of my hands. To go from that to where I am now, that’s living proof that anyone can do it.”
“AJ is the same, he’s come from the estate, come from nothing, from Nigerian parents, came from a foreign country to England. He’s come from the ghetto, and he’s made his way up to become a global superstar. If that doesn’t deserve 100% respect, then I don’t know what does.”
Fans are still hopeful that Fury and Joshua will meet in the ring one day, but it seems that ‘AJ’ will have to defeat Deontay Wilder for the all-British showdown to take place.
