Tyson Fury fans rally behind boxing star after brutal Anthony Joshua comments - 'Trying to stay relevant'
WATCH NOW: Paul Coyte's sports round-up 14/12/23
Tyson Fury fans have fiercely defended the 35-year-old after controversial comments from Anthony Joshua.
Boxing supporters have long wanted to see the two Britons face each other in the ring but, despite years of speculation, that looks unlikely to ever happen.
Fury is currently training for his lucrative fight with Oleksandr Usyk, with that showdown due to take place on February 17.
And, as that battle creeps closer, Joshua has ripped into his countryman.
Tyson Fury fans have rallied round the boxing star after Anthony Joshua called him a 'fat slob'
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Speaking to TNT Sports, the 34-year-old blasted Fury and delivered a ruthless verdict on the Gypsy King's recent victory over Francis Ngannou.
“Bodybuilders up, dossers down,” Joshua said to TNT Sports Boxing.
“He just looked like a flat slob that just can’t fight.
"He says that bodybuilders can’t fight, but he got smacked up by one.
“I’ve always wanted to get in the ring with him.
"He does a lot of talking, calls me a bodybuilder and stuff, but I want to marvel at the African power – he’s a bodybuilder, steps in and smacks him up for me.
“I think Ngannou won. But the judges are there for a reason, they score it how they score it and they’re professionals at what they do and I’m just an observer.
"Fury won, but from a fan’s point of view, I think Ngannou won.”
Yet boxing fans have now turned on Joshua and condemned his words.
One X user said: "Joshua again using Tyson Fury to stay relevant."
A second said: "Remember when Ruiz beat AJ? #upthefatslobs."
A third stated: "AJ is a stiff bodybuilder and if he got hit with the same shot by Ngannou (the world record hardest puncher) he would quit on the ropes like against Double Cheese Ruiz.
"AJ couldn’t even go for it against a guy half his size who can’t punch for toffee. Looked like he saw a ghost."
A fourth ranted: "AJ hasn’t lived that comment down after Fury called him a bodybuilder, he’s so insecure about Fury."
And a fifth said: "Fury has literally delivered every time he said he was going to apart form once….the last fight.
Tyson Fury was called a 'fat slob' by Anthony Joshua with boxing feud still ongoing after many years
PA
"Funny how every1 jumps in after a bad performance.
"Very similar to when Joshua took Ruiz to (sic) easily first fight, letting him hold the belts and p*****g about."
For years, fans have hoped to see Joshua and Fury settle their differences inside the ring.
But Joshua has admitted he doesn't feel he's capable of competing for the mantle of being undisputed world heavyweight champion.
"I used to, but it won't happen anymore," he said when asked if he dreamed of achieving that aim.
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When pressed on why, he added: "I think it is because of the reality, because what will happen is that Usyk and Fury are in a position to compete for the undisputed.
"And once they compete for the undisputed, the belts will get split up again.
"And I feel will probably take me about maybe five to six years to go through and get all the belts and beat all the independent champions, and that will probably take me until I'm 40 or 41, before I do that again.
"So I'm just like, it's probably not in my in time frame."