British boxer Tyson Fury, in a shocking admission, said he felt sorry for former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua following his surprise knockout defeat to IBF world heavyweight boxing champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September, The Courage.
Joshua was the favourite going into the fight only to be overpowered by Dubois, who earned a knockout victory in the fifth round to hand the 32-year-old his fourth professional career loss.
Joshua’s bid to become a three-time world champion and return to the division’s top table ended dramatically and unexpectedly, with Dubois dropping him several times at Wembley Stadium in front of 98,000 fans before he landed the final blow, a crunching right-hand, in Round 5 that left Joshua sprawling on the canvas.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Joshua’s next contest will be a rematch with Dubois or a clash with Fury.
First, Fury, who has long been linked with a super fight with Joshua, will face unified champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 after losing to the Ukrainian in May.
The Gipsy King, while looking forward to a clash between the two, said he felt sorry for his rival.
I feel sorry for him at the minute, being cleaned out in the last fight in five rounds, so he’ll have to do that again—or not—and then decide his future,” Fury.
“When an adversary loses, and it’s not to you, you do feel down and depressed about it. I felt sad for him. It was heartbreaking to see a worthy opponent lose his crown.
“I’d still fight him whether he’s got five losses, 10 losses, or 20. It’s not important because, at this stage of our careers, it’s about having good fights.
“I think it would still be an entertaining and interesting fight for the paying pundit.”
However, Fury says his immediate goal is for a third fight with Usyk, after previous trilogies versus Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora. “I would like to have a trilogy with Usyk. It would be 1-1, and then we would have to do a rubber match, and I’d be the only heavyweight in history to have three trilogy. That would be quite impressive.”
