Tyson Fury Calls Anthony Joshua a Warm-Up for Oleksandr Usyk Trilogy
Fury says he is using Joshua as a tune-up before chasing a third fight with Usyk in New York.
Tyson Fury is already looking through Anthony Joshua.
The former heavyweight champion told Sky Sports that the December 11 showdown with Joshua in Cardiff is nothing more than preparation for the fight he actually wants: a trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk.
"I don't have any intention of retiring after Joshua," Fury said. "I'm using this bum as a warm-up for Usyk."
Fury wants the third Usyk fight to happen in New York. He has lost both previous meetings with the Ukrainian by decision, and a win over Joshua would be the only thing keeping a trilogy commercially viable.
Fury has stayed active with fights against Arslanbek Makhmudov and Mariusz Wach, though neither opponent presented the kind of tactical puzzle that Usyk brings. Joshua, whatever Fury says publicly, carries genuine knockout power that has ended bigger fights than this one.
The trash talk is classic Fury: loud, dismissive, and designed to get under Joshua's skin. But the stakes are real. A loss to Joshua in Cardiff would kill any hope of a third Usyk fight and could effectively end Fury's career at the top level.
Joshua has not publicly responded to Fury's comments.
This is Fury doing what Fury does: dismissing the man standing in front of him to sell the fight behind him. It is good business and terrible strategy if he actually believes it.
Joshua is not a warm-up for anybody. The man has 28 knockouts and the kind of right hand that does not care about your game plan. Fury treating him like a sparring partner is either supreme confidence or supreme stupidity, and with Fury it is always hard to tell which.
Here is what I think is really happening: Fury knows he lost both Usyk fights and needs a narrative reset. "I was just warming up" is the kind of thing you say when you need the public to forget two L's on your record. Beat Joshua impressively, sell the Usyk trilogy as redemption in New York, and suddenly the losses look like a chapter instead of an ending.
But Joshua has to cooperate with that plan first. And AJ has never been the cooperative type.
