Tyson Fury says he is using Anthony Joshua 'as a warm-up for Usyk'

Fury told The Ring that Joshua's side tried to get out of the contract several times and that without Turki Alalshikh the fight "would not have happened".

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Wed 30 Sept, 19:31 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Tyson Fury in his interview with The Ring, alongside Anthony Joshua — Image: The Ring

Tyson Fury says he is treating Anthony Joshua as a stepping stone to a third fight with Oleksandr Usyk, the man who beat him twice.

In a sit-down interview with The Ring's Mike Coppinger, recorded before Wednesday's press conference, Fury said he was using Joshua "as a warm-up for Usyk". "Where's he going to get any money from? I'm the f***ing payday in this game," he said of Usyk. "I want it in America... I'll gain me vengeance over the rabbit finally."

He also said that if Joshua pulled out "for any reason, I'm going to fight whoever's next for the world title".

Fury said he never believed Joshua's side wanted the fight. "They've been forced into a corner. They tried to get out of this contract multiple times by insisting the fight happened in the UK," he said. "Netflix preferable place was the United States." He mocked their demands: "Now they're trying to make excuses... we want certain slippers, we want bedsheets... They're going to want my underpants next."

He credited Turki Alalshikh with making the fight. "Without Turki, this fight would not have happened. One thousand billion percent."

Fury and Joshua then met at the launch press conference in London on Wednesday: Fury vs Joshua press conference live. They fight at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Friday 11 December, live on Netflix.