By Jim Calfa: A visibly frustrated Tyson Fury voiced his annoyance about him wanting to know if Anthony Joshua will step aside to fight IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk next.
Wearing what appears to be colored contacts, Fury revealed to his boxing fans know how displeased he is with the situation with Joshua and Whyte. Fury wants to know if Joshua will step aside, and the suspense is starting to get to the ‘Gyspy King.’
If AJ doesn’t step aside, Fury will need to defend his WBC strap against mandatory Dillian Whyte if Joshua doesn’t step aside. Needless to say, Fury, 33, doesn’t sound eager to take that fight.
Like many, WBC champion Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) wants to know if Joshua will be stepping aside so that he can battle Usyk for all four belts in May.
Unfortunately, Joshua’s angry post on social media on Monday suggests that he’s not going to be stepping aside.
Joshua denied that he’s agreed to a 15 million pound step aside, which had been reported last Sunday night by Gareth Davies of The Telegraph. Davies is known for having good sources, so it’s pretty believable that Joshua was agreed to a 15M step aside.
It’s unclear why Joshua wouldn’t admit it? Did he change his mind due to him feeling ashamed?
“Is Dillian Whyte going to fight me? Is Anthony Joshua going to step aside? Let me know because I am sick of looking at these bums,” said an irritated sounding Tyson Fury on Tuesday on social media.
“I’m sick of listening to their excuses,” Fury continued. “The time has run out of the bottle. You’re all getting a good hiding, cowards.
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) January 25, 2022
The way it’s looking, Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) won’t step aside and will go ahead with his original plans of facing Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) in the rematch. If that’s what happens, the rematch will likely take place in May, according to Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk.
On Monday, Krassyuk said that Joshua should “seriously” consider stepping aside because if he loses his rematch with Usyk, his career will have many questions.
Besides the massive step aside money Joshua would be losing out on, he would be missing out on a chance to fight for the undisputed championship by not stepping aside.
Of course, with Joshua’s popularity, he’ll easily be able to get a title shot against whoever emerges as the undisputed champion. Even if Joshua gets beaten by Usyk in the rematch, he’ll be given a title shot against the eventual four-belt undisputed champion whenever he wishes.
At that point, though, Joshua’s career will effectively be on the line. Unless Joshua redeems himself after a second loss to Usyk in May, boxing fans will be highly critical of him being given another quick title shot with him coming off back-to-back defeats.
