Tyson Fury has claimed that he tried to arrange a fight against Anthony Joshua six times as a unification bout between the British pair was sought.
An agreement for the pair to finally enter the ring together was agreed in March 2021 before a court arbitration ruled that the Gypsy King should fight Deontay Wilder for a third time. That fight took place in October 2021 with Fury winning a month after Joshua lost his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO belts to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua and Usyk will fight once again in Saudi Arabia in August and Fury hasn't held back in his comments directed towards his British rival, describing the Londoner as a 'diva'. Speaking in an interview with iFL, he said: "I tried to make that fight six times at least, in my memory, in the last five years and have been unsuccessful every single time because you're messing with a diva who doesn't want to fight.
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'Years ago, when he was an undefeated knockout artist, people thought, "you know what? He could beat Tyson Fury, maybe." He continued. "Then when Anthony Joshua got bounced off the canvas by Andy Ruiz [in June 2019], people said, "he's a bodybuilder — Tyson's right, he hasn't got a chance."
"Then when he looked shockingly s*** in the [December 2019] rematch against Ruiz - who didn't train for a day, by the way, he was out in Mexico partying with the president - people said he was shot to bits.
"Then he goes and gets beaten by a cruiserweight [Usyk]. That bird has flown. I am the undefeated heavyweight king." These comments come after rumours of Fury's retirement, with the Morecambe based fighter hinting at a return in recent weeks for a potential unification bout against the winner of Usyk vs Joshua for an astronomical £500 million.
When asked about the unification, Fury told Talksport: "Even that £200million report today, that didn’t even tempt me," He added. "That would be like half of what I would want to come out of retirement.
“I’d probably want half a billion to come out of retirement. I’m telling you the truth, if you want me out of retirement it’s going to cost half a billion. AJ’s bubble’s been burst, he’s been beat twice. He isn't a virgin anymore, he’s been battered from pillar to post by a fat man on three weeks’ notice and by a middleweight. If it’s half a billion, then I won’t say no, will I?
"What you’ve got to do is go and get half a billion and then the Gypsy King will come out and solve all his problems for him. Because if AJ gets beat again off Usyk, then there’s only gonna be one man to redeem this great fighting nation of the United Kingdom. I can solve all the problems, the embarrassment and all that stuff that’s going to happen."
