Furious Anthony Joshua accuses Tyson Fury of disrespect over ‘sausages’ row

Joshua was unhappy with Fury’s comments ahead of Friday night’s fight in Riyadh

Anthony Joshua knocked out Francis Ngannou on Friday night and then accused the watching Tyson Fury of being “disrespectful”.

The heavyweight world champion looked on ringside in Riyadh as Joshua dispatched the former UFC champion Ngannou in two dominant rounds with a crushing performance.

Ngannou was dropped heavily twice before the emphatic finish, sparking excitement over a potential meeting between the two British rivals. Fury is in line to face Oleksandr Usyk, who beat Joshua twice previously, in an undisputed title fight in May, but Joshua reiterated his desire to meet the winner in the immediate aftermath of his latest victory.

Yet he was also irked by comments in which Fury labelled both Joshua and Ngannou “sausages” – especially given how close Fury was pushed by the Cameroonian boxing novice back in October.

“F**k Tyson Fury,” Joshua told iFL TV after the fight.

“I don’t like trashtalking people but I heard him say something like, ‘Oh, I’m here to do commentary about these two sausages’, or something like that. Bro, that guy that I fought, that he fought, is an ex-UFC heavyweight champion, a phenomenal story, someone who’s changed his life around. He’s just too disrespectful. So forget anything about him right now.”

In the ring after his impressive win, Joshua appeared to fire an imaginary gun in the direction of Fury.

“I just want to fight – yes it is [the winner of Fury v Usyk],” Joshua said. “It is what it is. What I was saying, en route to the championship, you should stay focused. I stepped aside from the mission, I thought it was for the broadcasters for entertainment.

“But I saw him against Fury and thought ‘damn, he can fight’. We welcomed him, he’s a great champion. It doesn’t take away from his capability. He can come again, I told him he can stay in boxing. It’s up to him. The Ben Davison performance centre [is the reason for my improvement]. I’m hungry, stay hungry and all that good stuff.

“I don’t know [if I’m coming into my peak], it only takes one shot, if that was me, you’d be saying, ‘Joshua should retire’. I don’t know if I’m in my peak, I’m pushing day by day, who knows where it will take me? In five years I won’t be fighting no more, this will be a distant memory.”

Tyson Fury is interviewed on DAZN at the Kingdom Arena (Getty Images)

Fury, though, warned there was “a long way to go” to make any potential British superfight happen with Joshua.

“There’s quite a long way to go, there’s always been a lot of s*** getting in the way of it,” Fury said. “I’ve got bigger fish to fry, 18 May, then we have a rematch in October. After that, if he’s still available and I’m available, let’s get it on.

“Yes, it goes both ways, he can do what he wants, whoever he fights, he can’t wait a year, inactivity is no good. After I beat Usyk, the IBF will be vacant, so maybe he can fight Hrgovic. I’m healing well, I’m not even in camp yet, I’ll go to camp at the end of March and I’ll spar then.”