EXCLUSIVE
ANTHONY JOSHUA: There’s an attack on my name at talkSPORT and Tyson Fury is everyone’s favourite
Anthony Joshua has accused talkSPORT of attacking his name and favouring Tyson Fury over him.
In an exclusive interview with former boxer Spencer Oliver, the ex-WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion had one or two bones to pick with us ahead of his fight against Dillian Whyte, which is live on talkSPORT.
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'AJ' believes that there's not a fair comparison in analysis between when he fights 12 rounds compared to when WBC heavyweight champion is taken the distance.
"Let me ask you a question, when everyone's favourite at talkSPORT [Fury] fought Otto Wallin over 12 rounds and bust his eye open no one complained," Joshua said.
"Anthony Joshua goes 12 rounds with Jermaine Franklin and it's like, 'arrgghhhh, what's happened to the heavyweight division?' Why is that? What is the problem with me going 12 rounds?
"It just makes me curious, hence why I asked the question, why do you think it is? Where one does it versus another but you can clearly see that there's two different comparisons. It makes me wonder why, but anyway, moving on!"
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"I wonder, he went 12 rounds and got a busted eye. Whatever people rated Otto Wallin and whatever people rate Jermaine Franklin is their opinion but let's put them in comparison," Joshua continued.
"He was coming back after a lay-off, I was coming back after a short lay-off after a loss. I went 12 rounds, he went 12 rounds. Why is it that I've got to relight my fire?"
Oliver then raised the point about how Joshua appears to be a different fighter to the one that first got him to world champion status and those tracking his career may wonder what's happened to the old AJ.
"There's two elements of it in my opinion," Joshua responded. "We'll just keep it factual, one is just general haters and the second is people who want me to do better, and I love that.
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"It is what it is. But let's be clear on what it is as well - there is a let's call it an attack on my name, especially on this talkSPORT radio station. There is definitely an attack on my name.
"But it's fine. It's fine, in this industry you have to have a thick skin. It's good to talk about it and that's just one of many examples I could talk about on how there's parallel comparisons but one gets dug out a lot more."
A win over Whyte should lead to a mouth-watering showdown with big-punching former heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder, however, Joshua still has some doubts about whether that will go ahead.
Joshua went onto suggest that the division has boxers who aren't as keen to fight like he and Whyte are.
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"I could've taken another route for sure but I thought why wait around? I've been waiting around a long time," Joshua said when speaking about the risk of his upcoming bout with Whyte.
"I was supposed to be fighting Fury a while ago in the summer then he had his arbitration and I realise now I'm not waiting, can't be bothered, I'm not chasing.
"These lot just waffle and waste time. I'm sure Wilder's keen to fight but I wouldn't hold my breath.
"You know someone who wants to earn and you know someone who wants to work. Whatever people say about Dillian, the man wants to work. He's a working man. He's a fighting man.
"That's a fighting man, not someone who says they're a fighting man, nah.
"Dillian's a fighting man. Look at his record, he's been in with some of the top contenders of this era.
"That's why he's here, not because of me, because of himself. That's who he is and that's why I'm sitting here, not because of him but who I am as a person. That's what draws fighters together."
Joshua vs Whyte on talkSPORT
A history of violence is here
Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte is live on talkSPORT - the home of boxing - on 12 August
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