Nigerian-born former two-time world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua, has several controversies swirling around him, following his public condemnation of people spending heavily at white-owned shops in England.
Sports247 reports that, with insinuations rising that he has racist tendencies, Joshua has also come under fire from his biggest rival on British soil, Tyson Fury, who slammed his next opponent for failing to show love to the country that gave him fortune and fame.
Fury, who is scheduled to face Joshua in a long-awaited ‘Battle of Brits’ come November at Madison Square Garden in New York City, USA, suggested that the Nigerian-born London 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist is not proud of his birthplace.
‘The Gypsy King’ went on to infer that ‘AJ’ made the comments because he is angry with the decision of fight promoters and marketers to shift the venue of their upcoming bout away from a location in Britain to God’s Own Country due to ‘foreign influences.’
A report by UK’s Daily Mail revealed, “Tyson Fury has picked apart Anthony Joshua’s ‘love’ of England and desire to fight his great boxing rival on home soil – by dredging up his speech appearing to call for a block on spending in white-owned shops.
“Fury, 38, and 36-year-old Joshua are embroiled in a bitter tug-of-war over their heavyweight superfight – largely centering on a debate around hosting it at London’s Wembley Stadium or Netflix’s choice of Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“Fury was keen to make clear Joshua is not motivated by a love of his country. Earlier this year, Daily Mail Sport revealed Joshua had in fact quit the UK to move to Dubai – even as thousands tried to flee amid rising panic in the Middle East war zone.
“Fury, a tax exile to the Isle of Man himself, brought up a 2020 speech at a Black Lives Matter march, where Joshua read out a letter from his friend Reece Campbell to urge attendees to stop spending money with white-owned shops and businesses.
“Fury re-posted the video of the speech, writing: ‘This is the man who loves England, absolute bag! Total piece of bully with zero guts! Don’t let them deceive you! & Living in Dubai.’
“In an address to the camera, Fury accused Joshua of trying to derail their fight to avoid being embarrassed. ‘If I agreed to tie both hands behind my back and wear solid cement boots, Anthony Joshua would never get in the ring with me because I’ll annihilate him,’ Fury blasted.”
Sports247 gathered further that the latest spat between both boxers has further put their long-awaited clash in doubt, as reports emerged later that Joshua has not signed his contract for the fight, though his promoter, Frank Warren suggested that the deal will be finalised this weekend.
