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Cape Town - Anthony Joshua is just days away from a world
heavyweight title fight with Wladimir Klitschko in front of the largest British
boxing crowd for nearly 80 years but the Briton says he would rather be facing
former champion Tyson Fury.
Fury beat Klitschko in 2015, handing the Ukrainian his first
loss in 11 years, to become the IBO, WBA, IBF and WBO champion.
However, he relinquished his titles the following year after
his license was suspended pending investigation for doping and medical issues.
Joshua, who became the IBF world heavyweight champion after
beating Charles Martin in April 2016, is unbeaten in 18 bouts and will fight
Klitschko, who has not fought professionally since his loss to Fury, at Wembley
on April 29.
"I think Tyson Fury is the biggest fight for me," Joshua told British media from his training camp in Sheffield.
"If it were up to me, that would have been the fight
happening this summer ... I was planning for a massive showdown with Tyson
Fury, but he had other plans and I just had to carry on. When he returns, I'm
sure I'll still be here."
Joshua and Fury traded barbs on Twitter last week after the
former champ called Joshua "a poor man's Frank Bruno," a reference to
the former British WBC and European heavyweight champion.
"Twitter is about communication and it's just
communicating," Joshua said. "He addresses me and Tweets me quite
often and I was just in the frame of mind where I thought me and Klitschko
don't have much verbals, so let me respond to Fury."
Joshua added that fury's "Bruno" jibe showed a
lack of respect.
"If he's an all-time great then why is he worrying
about who is behind him? You should focus on your future," the 27-year-old
said.
"If I was the greatest of all time I would never worry about who is behind me. I'm leading the way."
