Anthony Joshua has slammed reports that he is set to accept £15million to allow his rivals Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk fight for the undisputed heavyweight title.
Reports emerged yesterday that Joshua was going to accept a massive money offer to let Fury and Usyk fight this year despite being contractually obligated to a rematch with the Ukrainian.
The Telegraph first reported the news, saying that no official decision had yet been made but that Joshua was “close” to accepting a huge deal to forego his second fight with Usyk for £15m.
But Joshua has hit back at that claim, calling it “bulls***” in a new social media video.
“You know what’s mad about all these interviews I see?” Joshua asked fans. “I see certain interviews that quote what I said.
“But I think to myself ‘I ain’t done no interviews,’ where did this person get this information from. “I’m hearing people saying ‘AJ accepts £15million to step aside, I ain’t signed no contract – I ain’t seen no contract.
“As it stands, stop listening to the bulls*** until it comes from me, I’m the man in control of my destiny, I’m the man that handles my business.
“I’m a smart individual and I make calculated decisions every step of the way.
“Don’t listen to the bulls*** from other sources, if I tell you something then you know it’s real.
Joshua has been remaining laser focused on a rematch with Usyk since losing his belts to the former undisputed cruiserweight champion last September.
The pair were forced to fight after Usyk was ordered as WBO mandatory challenger when a fight between Joshua and Fury fell through for legal reasons.
Fury instead had to fight Deontay Wilder for a third time, stopping him in the eleventh round of a thrilling contest on October 9.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn admitted last week to Mirror Fighting that there were large sums of money on the table to make Fury vs Usyk happen.
“There are substantial amounts of money available,” he said at a press conference for Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan. “And there are people who want to try and make this route happen.
“But it’s not just about the money, it’s about the plan – AJ doesn’t want someone to come and give him money and saying ‘right, see you later mate’.
“He wants to know what the actual plan is, and that’s the same with Dillian Whyte, he’s been waiting a long time and if he has to wait a couple of more months that’s ok but how does it work?
“That’s the hold-up really, and right now, I still think the favourite is the two fights, but we’ll see what happens. “There have been a lot of discussions already but until I’m ready to present something solid to those people then we can do that at any time.”
