Anthony Joshua took aim at his ‘dippy’ rival Tyson Fury as he reignited the war of words between his long-time British heavyweight rival.
The 35-year-old has not fought since he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in the fifth round at Wembley last September.
Elbow surgery has kept the two-time heavyweight champion sidelined so far this year, with all indications now that Joshua won’t make his return to the ring until early 2026.
Many boxing fans continue to hold out hope for a grudge match between Joshua and Fury, who announced his retirement from boxing in January after his rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last year.
Fury has walked back on retirement on numerous occasions previously in his career, and Joshua is clearly keen to coax ‘The Gypsy King’ from his slumber one more time for as he called out the 37-year-old on social media.
Joshua also suggested he would be back in the ring ‘sooner rather than later’ in a post on Instagram following a press conference for Joseph Parker’s heavyweight showdown with Fabio Wardley in October.
‘I can’t lie, I’m proud of Joseph Parker,’ Joshua said of his former opponent. ‘Even though he is a competitor, real recognises real. He’s in the game to fight whoever, whenever and that’s the DNA of a real general.
‘Unlike his dippy mate Tyson Fury. I would dissect his career/record in minutes but I’ll leave that for a potential Gloves Are Off if he ever comes back and fights Big Femi.
‘Fabio Wardley, respect to you as well. Bro was working in recruitment helping your dad get a job a couple of years ago. Let that be a testament to God rooting in one’s favour and a statement to show, nothing is impossible ( if you can have a scrap haha).
‘To my supporters, I’ll be back to lace up my boots and put on my gloves sooner than later, hopefully punching Fury’s head in and dancing around his flicker jab with ease.’
Speaking last month, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, suggested that the 35-year-old will likely have a warm-up fight early in 2026 before they look to ‘roll the dice’ with a big-name opponent in the summer.
‘We’ve got to choose carefully for the next fight, and I think the best way in all of this is just to be honest and say the next fight will be a comeback fight to build into a roll of the dice next summer,’ Hearn told Sky Sports.
‘We need a top-15 guy [next]. It’s not going to be Fury, Usyk, Dubois, all of those top guys.
‘We need someone so that AJ can come back in a competitive fight after being out for what will be over a year and get himself ready for what will be one last roll of the dice.
‘A defeat now at this stage of his career would be devastating to those plans. So we need to get it right.’
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