IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua admits that he must fight Tyson Fury, who holds the WBC title, in order to solidify his legacy in the sport.
He believes the entire sport need this full division unification to happen in the near future.
“Do I need Tyson Fury on my record? I need it,” Joshua said on the BBC 5 Live Boxing podcast. “We need it for boxing. It’s what we all need, I need it. Come on, let’s see how good I am.”
Earlier this year, the two fighters were close to a finalized deal to collide on a date in August in Saudi Arabia.
Their deal fell apart when a U.S. arbitrator ordered Fury to honor a rematch clause due to former beltholder Deontay Wilder. And their trilogy fight is scheduled to take place on October 9 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Joshua will also stay busy with a very dangerous task ahead, as he makes a mandatory defense of his titles against undefeated Oleksandr Usyk on September 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A crowd of more than 60,000 is expected to be in attendance to cheer Joshua on.
The British star in anticipated a tough task, with Usyk being an Olympic gold medal winner and a former undisputed cruiserweight world champion.
“Fight good fighters and they bring out the best of you,” Joshua said. “Training camp is hard. To get better is very difficult in boxing. To fight Tyson Fury is a big challenge.
“Let’s see how far I can take myself during this period. It’ll be a good challenge mentally. Not about him, but because I actually want to do well.
“When I wake up in the morning early and I’m tired, my body’s battered, I still go out and do what I do. It’s great rewards and only someone like Fury can give that to me.”
–boxingscene.com
