Joshua Says Fury Works for Him After Tottenham Ringside Night
Anthony Joshua did not walk into the ring at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 11. He still talked like the night belonged to him.
Tyson Fury had just taken a wide unanimous decision over Arslanbek Makhmudov on Netflix, his first win since coming back from another retirement. Joshua was ringside for it. When the cameras found him, he put the pressure back on Fury.
“Look, he’s the one that retired,” Joshua said. “I’ve been in the game. I’ve never retired. I’ve been standing strong for the last 13 years.”
That was the frame he wanted. Fury leaves and returns. Joshua stays. “It’s on him, innit?” he said. “He disappears, comes back, disappears, comes back. I’m standing strong, so that’s why I’m not here to chase fame or chase hype.”
He called himself a real person and said the next name in front of him did not matter. “I’ll fight whoever’s in front of me, whether it’s him or the next person,” Joshua said. “It don’t matter to me, and I’m always in big fights.”
Then he said the line that followed him out of the building.
“It’s just my style, you know? I make the big fights. That’s why I said to him, he works for me.”
The interviewer reminded him that Tottenham already knows him. She asked if he would want a warm-up before Fury. Joshua did not close that door.
“Good question,” he said. “Both options. That could be a warm-up fight after what I saw tonight, but we’ll see.”
What he saw was Fury going the full 12 rounds against a limited opponent. Two judges scored it 120-108. The third had it 119-109. Fury controlled the night and then tried to pull Joshua into the ring for the callout. Joshua stayed put and later sat for this interview instead.
He also made clear that the calendar is not only about Fury. “I was just in a serious incident maybe four months ago, innit?” he said. “So I need to really check out what’s going on with my return to the ring.”
He did not name the incident in that answer. He said there is real life happening around the sport and that he is not ducking anyone while he deals with it.
“I’m here, I’m keeping my eye on the game,” Joshua said. “There’s real stuff happening in my life. It’s not like I’m ducking no one. I know what my job is, I know what I’m here to do, but there’s just real stuff happening in my life that I also gotta attend to, and once I’m 100%, I’ll be ready, 100%.”
He finished the way he started. “This is what I do. I run the game, you know? I run the game. Everyone knows I run the game. I’m the big man.”
Fury had already told the stadium he wanted Joshua next. Joshua’s answer that night was that Fury does not set the terms. Months later, the same fight is still the biggest unfinished piece in British heavyweight boxing, with a December date that has already been announced and then thrown into public doubt.
Nothing in this interview booked the fight. It only showed how Joshua wants the story told. Fury came back. Joshua says he never left. Fury asked for the dance. Joshua said the other man works for him, and that he will step in when he is all the way ready.
