Anthony Joshua has called out WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury following his unanimous points win over Jermaine Franklin at London’s O2 arena.
Joshua, who was returning to action for the first time since back-to-back defeats to unified world heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, failed to deliver the high notes of expectations by labouring to a points win instead of a conclusive knockout victory which many had predicted. Ultimately, however, Joshua returned to winning ways.
Joshua, who now extends his record to twenty-five wins against three defeats, did not waste his time calling for a fight with Fury, which had been attempted to be negotiated on at least two occasions in recent years.
“I try and provide for the fans. I know who the fans want - who do the fans want? They said Fury, yeah? The ball is in his court,” Joshua said on the DAZN broadcast.
“I would be 100 per cent honoured to compete for the WBC Championship of the world.
“I stand here and say that proudly, that would be an honour.
“Wherever you are, if you are listening, you know my management, you know my promoter, we’ve had dialogue before, so let’s continue this, and hopefully, we can get this done sooner rather than later. We aren’t getting any younger.”
Joshua also confirmed that he aims to be out in the summer and that he wants to be boxing at least another two times this year. Anthony aims to return to Texas as soon as possible and continue training under the tutor ledge of Derrick James.
“I can’t wait to get back to Texas, develop and push on because there’s a bigger fight. You know how one fight leads onto another. I can’t wait to get the next big fight.”
