Fury Praises Joshua for Sportsmanliness, Doffs Cap
It may be recalled that Fury dethroned Wilder in the seventh round back in February, with the American subsequently going quiet for several months.
Wilder has now broken his silence however, and come out with a series of remarkable cheating accusations.
Fury responded by suggesting the former champion may be struggling with mental health issues as he (Fury) did several years ago, and offered a phone call of support.
Fury expressed regret that Wilder is still holding malice of that people have cheated him.
“His trainers have cheated him. I had weight in my gloves, his costume was too heavy and he had a bicep injury. I have run out of ideas of what other excuses a man could make in a defeat in boxing,” Fury said.
Fury was then asked about what he made of his rival Anthony Joshua’s contrasting respectful reaction when he was stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr last year.
“Very class. Listen, we are rivals and we have been for a long time but I’ve gotta speak truthfully and honestly.
“You are a world heavyweight champion and you take a loss – he handled it like a man. He handled it very sportsmanlike, took it in his stride. He knew he made a mistake and that was it,” Fury added.
Joshua now is a two-time heavyweight world champion having beaten Ruiz Jr in their rematch
“He did not say why, he did not make a million excuses, I didn’t hear any excuses from him at all, none.
“He just said, ‘Well done, congratulations, I will see you next time.’
“And I would hope that I could conduct myself like that as well if that happened to me.
“Everybody who loses a fight, for whatever reason, they always come out and say something like, ‘Oh, I had a bad foot, a bad elbow, a shoulder operation.’
“And I just think, if you’re going into a big fight with these injuries, either don’t take the fight and have it postponed, or don’t mention it afterwards.
“Don’t try and take somebody else’s glory away from their victory.
“And I’ve gotta take my hat off to AJ, he didn’t. He just said, ‘Look, I got beaten by the better man on the night, fair play.’
“I thought that was class.”
Having once worked as a bricklayer before taking up boxing full-time, Joshua is recognised as one of the most marketable athletes in the world, and has lucrative endorsement deals with numerous brands, including Under Armour, Beats By Dre, and Lucozade.
In 2017, he was ranked as the world’s most marketable athlete, ahead of basketball player Stephen Curry, who was ranked most marketable the previous year.
Joshua has avoided a life of violence and crime by dedicating himself to boxing.
He has spoken of his ambition to surpass Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s career earnings of $700 million. He once said: “When I first started, the aim was to become a multi-millionaire. But now there are ordinary people, grandmas and grandads, who are worth millions just because of property prices. So the new school of thought is that I need to be a billionaire. Being a millionaire is good but you have to set your sights higher.”