The world heavyweight champion, 28, said he relies on it to give him maximum energy before he gets in the ring
Browsing: Anthony Joshua
Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs), who is scheduled to fight Joseph Parker on March 31 in a unification bout, believes boxing should move on if Fury doesn’t want to return to the ring.
Joshua, 28, holds the IBF and WBA belts, while New Zealander Parker is the WBO champion.
The WBA “super” and IBF champion has been angered by a verbal attack from Parker and his promotional team ahead of his heavyweight unification clash with the WBO title holder at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on March 31.
Parker’s manager David Higgins is in the UK alongside his fighter sorting out the final details of the deal with Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn.
Parker’s promoter David Higgins was en route to London on Tuesday to finalise a deal with Joshua’s boss Eddie Hearn for a fight that will put the Kiwi’s WBO title on the line as well as the big Brit’s WBA and IBF titles.
His promoter David Higgins was flying to England on Monday to wrap up the final details of the bout, which is likely to be on March 31.
Fury has been out of the ring for more than two years following self-confessed problems with drugs and depression, in which time Joshua has become the unified champion and poster boy of the heavyweight division.
Fury has been back in the gym in recent months, however, ahead of a proposed comeback in 2018. And the 29-year-old wants to jump straight in at the deep end and face the WBA and IBF king, Joshua.
The 28-year-old currently holds three of the five heavyweight titles, having this year added the WBA and [lesser regarded] IBO belts to the IBF belt he won in 2016.
The IBF and WBA champion is furious with Fury after he labelled him a “bum” and questioned his performance against Carlos Takam in October.
Parker’s camp have agreed that the unbeaten WBO heavyweight champ will receive between 30 and 35 per cent of the total purse with Joshua coining in almost two thirds.
IBF/WBA champion Joshua — regarded by most as the world’s best heavyweight — and WBO belt holder Parker should have their Cardiff clash confirmed within a fortnight.
There is an ongoing debate over which boxer is the new king of the heavyweights – with Joshua, WBC champion Deontay Wilder and WBO champion Joseph Parker all claiming their right to the throne.
Fury has not fought in more than two years but was given the green light to return to the ring by UK Anti-Doping after resolving an ongoing issue regarding a negative test for nandrolone in February 2015.
The robe had a USB stick sewn into it which contained Klitschko’s prediction of how the April bout would unfold.
It means Fury, who has returned to training and faced the UKAD hearing alongside cousin Hughie, can challenge for Joshua’s unified WBA, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles, assuming he gets his licence back from the British Boxing Board of Control.
Parker’s promotional team had suggested last week that Joshua was “refusing to compromise” over terms, with the WBO champion offering a 35-65 split in favour of ‘AJ’, who holds the WBA ‘super’ and IBF belts.
Parker (24-0, 18 KOs), who is currently the WBO world heavyweight champion, beat Hughie Fury in his debut U.K. performance in September, and the New Zealand boxer is keen to come back to face WBA and IBF belt holder Joshua.
Wilder and Joshua had been on a collision course for next year but Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, refused to split the purse evenly which led to the American withdrawing from negotiations.