Tyson Fury has hailed Anthony Joshua’s ruthless victory over Francis Ngannou but warned their ‘Battle of Britain’ is ‘still on the backburner’ for the foreseeable future.
Joshua produced a devastating display against the former UFC heavyweight champion, putting him on the mat with a savage right hand in the first round.
Ngannou managed to get back to his feet but was punished again in the second round, floored with two more explosive shots as Joshua ended the fight with one of his most memorable knockouts to date.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn christened his fighter the best heavyweight on the planet in the immediate aftermath as the 2012 Olympian celebrated his victory.
Fury was watching on from ringside with ‘The Gypsy King’ taking on Oleksandr Usyk on 18 May in their historic undisputed showdown where all the belts will be on the line.
Joshua has been promised the chance to fight the winner, but may have to wait with that first Fury vs Usyk fight almost certain to be followed by a contracted rematch.
While impressed with the knockout, Fury insisted Joshua remains behind him and Usyk when it comes to ranking the best their division has to offer.
‘I’m sure that Oleksandr Usyk will have something to say about that [Joshua being no1 in the world] considering he beat him twice in the last few years,’ Fury said.
‘And me and Usyk have got an undisputed world heavyweight championship coming up.
‘He’s just had a show fight in Saudi Arabia, which is fantastic for the show, but for the actual real boxing, it’s me and Usyk who fight for the number one and number two position for the undisputed championship of the world.’
Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi adviser responsible for bringing the biggest names in boxing to the region, had promised the winner of Joshua vs Ngannou would take on the winner of Fury vs Usyk at a later date.
But Fury warned there is still a long way to go before that fight is set in stone.
‘I think there’s quite a long way to go [for a fight with Joshua] and for some reason over the last five years there’s always been some s**t that gets in the way of it and this time the s**t is the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
‘So that [the fight with AJ] is on the backburner for now. Great performance from AJ, fantastic, but unfortunately I’ve got bigger fish to fry in Usyk on May 18 and then we have a rematch in October.
‘So, after that, if he’s still available, and I’m still available, let’s get it on.’
