Tyson Fury has praised Anthony Joshua’s brutal win over Francis Ngannou but cautioned that their ‘Battle of Britain’ is still not happening soon.
Joshua delivered a powerful performance against the former UFC heavyweight champion, knocking him down with a fierce right hand in the first round.
Ngannou managed to stand up again but was hit hard in the second round, knocked down with two more explosive punches as Joshua finished the fight with one of his most memorable knockouts to date.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn hailed his fighter as the best heavyweight on the planet right after as the 2012 Olympian celebrated his win.
Fury was watching from the side of the ring with ‘The Gypsy King’ facing Oleksandr Usyk on 18 May in their historic undisputed showdown where all the belts will be at stake.
Joshua has been assured the opportunity to fight the winner, but may have to wait as the first Fury vs Usyk fight is likely to be followed by a contracted rematch.
While impressed with the knockout, Fury insisted Joshua is still behind him and Usyk when it comes to ranking the best in their division.
‘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 an undisputed world heavyweight championship coming up.
‘He’s just had an exhibition fight in Saudi Arabia, which is great for the show, but for the actual legitimate boxing, it’s me and Usyk who compete for the number one and number two positions for the undisputed championship of the world.’
Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi adviser who brought the biggest boxing names to the region, had pledged that the winner of Joshua vs Ngannou would face the winner of Fury vs Usyk at a later time.
But Fury cautioned that there is still a long way to go before that fight is confirmed.
‘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 challenges that hinder it and this time the challenge is the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
‘So that [the fight with AJ] is on hold for now. Great performance from AJ, fantastic, but unfortunately I’ve got bigger challenges with 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.’
