Anthony Joshua wants title showdown with Tyson Fury to take place in UK despite £150m Saudi Arabia offer – The Sun
ANTHONY JOSHUA wants his potential all-UK undisputed decider with Tyson Fury to take place in the UK.
AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed Saudi Arabia would stump up a whopping £150million for the two Englishmen to clash, if Fury snatches the WBC heavyweight title from Deontay Wilder on February 22.
The Gypsy King then claimed he would only want the showdown to take place in Las Vegas, where he is about to enjoy his third consecutive fight.
But Joshua, speaking after a training session at his old amateur club Finchley ABC, insists an all-English battle should take place on home soil.
He said: “I think it has to be in the UK, to be fair, but I would never let a location get in the way of a mega fight.
“The reason I always said I wanted Fury to win that fight is so we could put our fight on here but if he wants to do it in America then it makes sense for Wilder to win and then we do that fight there.
“It makes more sense to have a Brit versus an American, in America, than a Brit versus a Brit over there.
“If Fury wants to fight me in Vegas then we would have to talk about that. For me, personally, it makes more sense to have that in London or Manchester.”
And if AJ’s boxing brain is good as it was in the Diriyah desert, it will be a sensational domestic war next.
He said: “I think Fury wins. He came so close last time that I don’t think he will get it wrong the second time.
“It was a draw, that close, so I think Tyson Fury will correct his wrongs and come back for the win.
“I think Fury wins because he came so close in the first fight and he wants his hands on the belt.”
Having become a two-time unified champion by getting rematch revenge over Andy Ruiz Jr in December, the green and gold WBC belt is the only one missing from the Watford hero’s collection.
That final piece of the puzzle is now the 30-year-old’s main professional goal and by February 23 he will know who he has to beat to finally snatch it.
“That’s the drive,” he said. “I would love to be undisputed but the process is long, these men are just dragging it out.
“If I become undisputed then it is what it is. If I don’t, then I have done my best. Boxing is all I live for.
“I have to earn cash as well because there are a lot of people I want to take care of, I want to set up a charity arm that are self-funding.
“I have nothing else to do, this is what I have dedicated myself too, this is all I know.
"And see potential for improvement and when I study I see my own improvement and start thinking ‘imagine how good I could be in another year’.
“I want to see how far I can take it because I am only going to live once.”
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