John Fury has urged fans to rally behind Anthony Joshua as he begins to rebuild his career. Fury Sr believes AJ deserves more respect from the public, who appear to be turning on the two-time heavyweight champion.
Recent polls suggest that Joshua’s stock may be lowering following back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk. Express Sport readers recently ruled out Joshua regaining the world titles with 82.7% of the 4,862 voters in our poll believing his time at the top is over.
Meanwhile, his fight with Franklin also ranked bottom in our recent poll of the most anticipated fights of 2023. Tyson Fury vs Usyk came out on top and was followed in order by Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia, Josh Taylor vs Jack Caterall II and Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury.
Joshua has struggled to shift tickets for his April 1 clash with Franklin at the O2 Arena. Despite selling out the 20,000-capacity venue on multiple occasions, there are still thousands of seats yet to be filled with only weeks left until fight night.
But Fury Sr wants to see fans backing the Watford powerhouse as he begins the arduous journey back to the top and believes the best is yet to come for AJ with the fight with Tyson still within reach.
Speaking to Express Sport via Free Bets, he said: “Listen, AJ’s a great kid, fans shouldn’t be turning against him and if they’re, then it’s wrong. AJ has given the public some great nights and they should support the man. Let me tell you this, the best is yet to come from AJ, so the fans should get behind him and let’s get him back to winning ways again and make the super fight once Tyson is done with the Ukrainian rabbit.
“It’s the biggest fight in boxing, absolutely. It’s bigger than Usyk. Joshua and Tyson is still a great fight. So, I urge fans, get behind the man don’t kick him when he’s down.”
Although he admits AJ could have chosen a better opponent for his comeback. “If his name was Anthony Fury, he’d be selling them out, wouldn’t he? But unfortunately, his name is Anthony Joshua and it’s a s*** fight. I’m only being honest. You know, who knows Jermaine Franklin over here? He’s a good fighter but he’s got no name and it’s a D-level fight,” he added.