Tyson Fury’s dad John has been critical of his son’s handling of his fight with Anthony Joshua, and it appears he has an ally in the world champion.
Joshua and Fury had signed a contract to fight in Saudi Arabia on August 14, but early last week arbitration ruled that the ‘Gypsy King’ would have to have a trilogy match with Deontay Wilder first, which was signed within days.
And Joshua has now sided with Fury’s father, who questioned the speed at which a deal was made for the Wilder rematch, with Tyson signing a contract on Saturday following a Monday evening ruling.
Taking to his snapchat stories, Joshua linked to Fury’s BT Sport interview, saying: “I got a lot of time for this interview, good listen.
“Some massive statements have been made if you listen carefully. I would want to sit down with J.F. [John Fury], have a Guinness and talk fighting.”
Fury’s father ‘Big John’ told BT Sport last week that he feels ‘yes men’ have taken over his son’s camp, and that he is not making the right choices.
He said: “While I’m alive and fit and able I want to do the best for Tyson, but he is obviously in a different league now, he has 20,000 yes men around him.
“This is what happens when you get to the top, he’s got a lot of leeches and hangers-on out there and you can see what’s happening in America with him, that’s appalling work isn’t it?
“It’s diabolical, you’re geared up to fight one man and at the eleventh hour [it gets taken away], and within 24 hours it’s all sorted and you’re signing a contract [to fight someone else] in the hall of a boxing venue.
“They’re around him like locusts, how can you think straight with all that around you?”
He would have recommended that his son return to the UK and assess the situation with those closest to him, as opposed to hastily signing to fight Wilder, just days after the shock arbitration ruling.
Fury stands to lose tens of millions of pounds by fighting Wilder, instead of organising a step aside payment for the American so he could open the door to restoring the £150m pound deal to face Joshua in the Middle East.