ANTHONY JOSHUA called out Tyson Fury to fight him in the summer after listening to the demands of a packed O2 last night.
Following his unanimous decision victory over Jermaine Franklin, AJ asked the 19,000 fans in the Docklands arena who they wanted to see him fight next.
In one loud voice, the crowd chanted “Fury”.
Upon hearing the plea, Joshua called out the Gypsy King to finally agree to a long-awaited Battle of Britain.
The 33-year-old former champ said: “You know me, I like to provide for the fans. I know who the fans want. Who do the fans want?
“They said Fury? The ball is in his court, I will 100 per cent be honoured to compete for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world.
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“I stand here and say that proudly, it would be an honour, so wherever you are if you’re listening. You know my management, you know my promoter.
“We’ve had dialect before, so let’s continue this and hopefully we can get this on sooner rather than later. We ain’t getting any younger.”
Fury recently saw talks for a unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk fall through.
The Ukrainian’s promoter blasted Fury’s terms as “absolutely unacceptable”, despite Usyk accepting a 70-30 split.
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Fury also saw talks with Joshua breakdown last year, but now AJ has laid down the gauntlet once again.
AJ’s fight against Franklin ended in chaos as the pair got into a fracas and needed to be pulled apart by security.
Joshua and Franklin nearly traded ADDITIONAL BLOWS after the final bell after more heated trash talk.
Members of Franklin’s team jumped in and stopped their man from starting a mass brawl.
But thankfully it was cooled and the judges scored it: 118-111, 117-111 and 117-111 for a unanimously underwhelming win.
Joshua apologised for his lacklustre display in an impassioned post-fight interview, saying: “That got a bit chaotic but I am calm now.
“I apologise to anyone who saw that. I respect Jermaine and all the fans.
“Jermaine had a good duck and dive style, he knew how to tuck up, he did well.
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“I should have knocked him out but now it is done and we are on to the next.
“When people come to fight me they bring a different type of energy, he was not here to roll over.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
