TYSON FURY claims that he encountered the ‘true Anthony Joshua’ during a heated phone call with his rival, labelling the two-time world heavyweight champion a ‘bully’.
Fury, 33, told The Lowdown that he once received an angry phone call from Joshua telling him what he was going to do to him when the pair eventually meet in the ring.
Fury said: “He phoned me up one day in a mood to say he was gonna do this and do that to me. It didn’t fare too well for him, let’s say that… I just told him the truth. The truth always hurts.”
The pair had a seemingly amicable relationship until quite recently, having sparred together as youngsters, talked on FaceTime and even bumped into each other on holiday in Marbella.
Fury even said in an interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap that he respects AJ and reckons his biggest rival would ‘love him’ if they got to know each other.
He also went on to say: “I respect him not only because of a boxing side of things, I respect him because he’s come from a very rough council estate.
“He was a drug dealer and all that sort of stuff in his early life – and he’s changed it all around to become a champion.”
Despite this, when speaking on The Lowdown about their bust up, Fury elaborated: “Just out of the blue. He decided to give me a call, a telling off call.
“I don’t think he liked what he heard on the end of it. There’s no telling me off anyway.
“I just told him the truth and the truth always hurts. I have definitely encountered the true Anthony Joshua. Not a nice person, sort of a bully.
“Someone who thought he was gonna put the bluff on me. That’s what type of person he is.”
The two have often come to blows on social media, with Joshua claiming Fury would never be able to sell out Wembley Stadium without him.
The 31-year-old said: “If Fury could have sold out 90,000-capacity stadiums, then he would have done. But he never has had the ability to attract those large numbers, not until he fights me.”
Fury hasn’t fought professionally since his last bout with Deontay Wilder in February 2020, which he won by technical knockout in the seventh round.
Joshua, on the other hand, retained his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles when he stopped Kubrat Pulev with a stunning knockout in the ninth round back in December 2020.
Fury and AJ had previously agreed to go head to head in an undisputed world heavyweight title fight, only for the fight collapse as Fury was ordered by an arbitration judge to face Deontay Wilder first.
The fight was reportedly due to take place on 14th August in Saudi Arabia, but Fury will instead take on Deontay Wilder in the third chapter of their trilogy fight on 9th October in Nevada, USA.
Meanwhile, Joshua will take on Ukrainian heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to defend his titles on September 25.
Joshua called Fury out on social media after their fight collapsed, claiming that the WBC champion never really intended to fight him in the first place.
He said: “Tyson Fury the world now sees you for the fraud you are. You’ve let boxing down! You lied to the fans and led them on. Used my name for clout not a fight.”
Should Fury and Joshua both come out on top in their respective fights, talks will likely resume over the hotly-anticipated all-British heavyweight showdown for 2022.
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
