Anthony Joshua pinpoints moment in sparring with Tyson Fury that kicked off vicious feud
Anthony Joshua has met Tyson Fury in the ring before
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Anthony Joshua has revealed when his feud with Tyson Fury first started amid the tense relationship between the two Britons.
Fury had put the call out to prospective boxers to meet him in the ring at Finchley Boxing Club back in 2010 - and anyone who could knock him out would be awarded a Rolex watch.
The Gypsy King was 11-0 at the time, having just beaten John McDermott for the English heavyweight title, and was in a confident mood.
That was until he met AJ, two years before bursting on the scene at the Olympics at London 2012, who managed to best the Mancunian.
Anthony Joshua has met Tyson Fury in the ring before
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Speaking recently on James Cordon's This Life of Mine podcast, Joshua said: “This guy called Tyson Fury, I had no idea who he was, comes out into the gym and the word on the street was that Tyson said he is the best heavyweight and that if anyone knocks him out, they get his Rolex watch.
"I’m looking at the cash, I said, ‘Rolex yeah? Let’s go!’
“The bell goes, we go at it. I think that we sparred about three or four rounds.
"Even Tyson actually, he did an interview promoting the fight saying: ‘There is this kid called Anthony Joshua, I sparred him down at Finchley Boxing Club and I will tell you what, he is s*** hot.
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"I believe that he is going to go on and do great things, he hit me with a shot and nearly took my head off.'
“After that, the praise stopped because I was on his coattails, so I started chasing him up the division.
"That fight is one that has never been so close.”
To this date, it is the only time that Fury and Joshua have ever met in the ring but that could all change in the near future.
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Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has insisted that the two Britons will finally face off - provided they win their next fights.
Fury rematches Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 for the WBC, WBA, and WBO titles after losing to the Ukrainian in May - his first-ever professional defeat.
Joshua, meanwhile, will face Daniel Dubois for the IBF belt on September 21, though Alalshikh has revealed even if they both lose they could meet in the ring.
"Joshua if he wins, he will wait for the result of Tyson and Usyk, this is the big fight and everyone will wait for it," Alalshikh said on an X Space.
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Tyson Fury offered anyone who could knock him out an expensive Rolex watch
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"If Tyson wins then that means we must see Joshua vs Tyson. One of the biggest fights in boxing, all the people want to see it...
"Even if they lost before it doesn't mean everyone doesn't want to see it.
"First of all if Usyk wins then he deserves to choose a big fight and this will be his right, right?
Anthony Joshua was still an amateur at the time, bursting onto the scene at the Olympics in 2012
"If he chooses Joshua and Joshua accepts then we want to do this fight but still at the same time we want to see Tyson vs Joshua.
"Let's see what Tyson will do on this night and whether he will give us on December 21 a great fight then for sure we want to see him against Joshua.
"This would be huge for the fans and for boxing."