Tyson Fury has mocked rival Anthony Joshua with a Christmas cracker joke claiming he doesn't "like the ring".
Fury recently returned to the ring when he defeated former two-time rival Derek Chisora in a trilogy bou t last weekend to set up an undisputed clash with Joshua's conqueror Oleksandr Usyk. It could have been Joshua in the place of Chisora for the WBC title clash however, with the Briton offered the chance to take the showdown which he gladly accepted.
However the fight collapsed which left a sour taste in the mouth of British boxing fans who were keen to see the heavyweight pair finally settle their bitter rivalry. In a recent appearance on Capital radio, Fury came into the studio wearing a Christmas jumper which read "Merry Christmas you dossers" with a picture of his own face on.
And then in a fresh gag aimed at his rival, Fury pulled a Christmas cracker with a member of the team before reading a joke in traditional fashion from the inside. He read out: "First Christmas cracker I have ever won. Question, why has Anthony Joshua never married? Answer, because he is too scared of the ring."
Joshua has suffered back-to-back defeats against Usyk and was hoping to get an immediate shot at world title redemption against Fury last weekend. But after the pair's teams failed to agree a team, a fight once again failed to materialise and it threatens to become boxing's latest rivalry to never grace the ring.
Fury and his long-term foe were set to meet last year in an undisputed title clash, but after the contracts were signed the 'Gypsy King' was forced to accept a trilogy clash with Wilder. Hopes remain that a fight can be made in 2023 if Joshua is able to revive his ambitions with a comeback win early next year.
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And the WBC champion has stated that he will refuse to retire until the pair have duelled in the ring given the fans expectation. "I don't think I can retire today," Fury said when assessing the chances of a fight on the High Performance podcast. "Because I need that Joshua fight. We have been trying to make that fight for years.
"It's the fight that people want to see. It's the fight that I want to see as a boxing fan. For the last four or five years, there has been this three-headed monster: me, Wilder, Joshua. Joshua and Wilder have been slain, and I'm the last one standing. All of a sudden, you've got some new people coming up now.
"Now there's a load of new blood that wasn't there five years ago and it's like, 'can you beat this person?'. But I think it would be an absolute dying travesty if me and Joshua didn't fight in this era."
