Tyson Fury has finally managed to get a reaction out of Anthony Joshua.
Ever since 'AJ' stopped durable challenger Carlos Takam in Cardiff less than two weeks ago, Fury has been omnipresent in the media and on Twitter.
Fury has taken several jabs at his fellow undefeated Brit, claiming that he would stop Joshua inside eight rounds when they inevitably meet.
https://twitter.com/Tyson_Fury/status/925335667135188998
The war of words has been decidedly one-sided as Fury continued to poke away at the London 2012 gold medallist, repeatedly retweeting his followers' favourable predictions for how Fury vs. Joshua would go down.
And 'AJ' remained very quiet... up to now.
Speaking to
IFL TV, Joshua has broken his silence on Fury's incessant trolling and while he refused to comment too much on the outcome of the match-up considering the fact that Fury is still without a licence and has some ways to go if he is to return to fight shape, 'AJ' did admit that he felt a need to see his rivalry with Fury come to fruition in the ring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPe3FkDgFYE
"One side of me says he’s not relevant because he’s not fighting," Joshua said. "With all due respect, I can only speak about fighters who are active."
Fury hasn't fought in almost two years, with his most recent bout coming against Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf in 2015.
His time at the top of boxing's heavyweight division was short-lived, however, as he saw rematches with the Ukrainian cancelled due to a series of issues on Fury's part; including injury, psychological troubles and traces of cocaine showing up in a blood test.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/926470025489330176
The controversial heavyweight is expected to return in 2018 and will likely take a couple of tune-up fights before he is trusted to headline a pay-per-view opposite Joshua.
And when Fury is deemed ready, Joshua will be there waiting for him.
"But on the other side, I need Tyson Fury. I want him, so I can compete with him. I want to challenge Tyson Fury," Joshua continued.
"I can’t speak about someone who’s not active. When he’s back, I’ll be able to say ‘yeah, I’ve been watching the way he’s training’ but I can’t even talk about that right now.
"The other side of me - and I’ve said good things - [I think] you know what, I want him back so I can challenge Tyson Fury and we can get this showdown happening."
