Fury and Joshua had on multiple occasions agreed to deals to fight for the undisputed heavyweight title for tens of millions, but the bout now looks unlikely as Usyk holds the belts.
Tyson Fury has admitted that watching Anthony Joshua lose his world titles to Oleksandr Usyk “absolutely wounded” him.
Fury wanted to see his Brit friend retain his unified heavyweight belts so that he could fight Wilder.
Fury and Joshua had been planning to have a Fury-Joshua fight, but Usyk outboxed him in front of 63,000 supporters at Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
They had previously made multiple deals to have a unification fight, which would have made the heavyweight division champion an undisputed champion for over 20 years.
The most recent deal between the pair, an August 14th meeting in Saudi Arabia which would have netted each man over $100million, was scrapped when Fury was directed to fight Deontay Wilder in a trio bout on October 9.
Wilder brought in the arbitration to force Fury to face the American. Joshua was then required to defend Usyk. This meant that both fighters had to win the super-fight.
And Fury says that watching Joshua lose was difficult, admitting that it “wounded” him to see.
“Usyk did his job, and that’s all I know,” Fury responded when Fury was asked to assess the performance of the Ukrainian fighter. “He won his fight and good luck to him.
“The fight was too short to evaluate or express. Yes, I did.
“Was I absolutely wounded when Usyk won? Yes, I was.
“I was hoping Joshua would win the fight. But he didn’t. That’s not my business. Tyson Fury scoffs at claim he faked Covid to delay Deontay Wilder trilogy
“One thing that I have learned in my life, not that I’ve ever been involved in anybody else’s business, is to keep my nose out of everyone else’s business – it’s none of my concern.”
And Fury believes that neither Joshua nor Usyk hold a candle to his upcoming opponent Wilder, whom he faces at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday next week.
Fury has inflicted only two mistakes on Wilder’s record: a 2018 draw and his dominating 2020 stoppage win over the American for the world heavyweight title.
He believes that Fury would be able to defeat both of Wilder’s opponents if they ever fight.
“My only concern is beating Deontay Wilder, that’s the most dangerous heavyweight out there,” Fury went on.
“In my opinion, Wilder beats Joshua, Usyk, all the rest of the division comfortably, but he cannot beat me.
“Wilder is my only concern. I have a huge task ahead of me. It’s a very dangerous task that I’m giving 100% focus, and I don’t care who I fight after this. Let me get through Wilder first. Then, on Sunday morning, we can have a turkey talk about who I’ll be fighting next.”