The first press conference for the megafight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua had an atmosphere that few expected.
Fury and Joshua, two biggest of the biggest names in boxing, finally faced off Wednesday for their now official WBA super heavyweight title bout set for Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Although at times salvos were fired, Fury and Joshua, who have trash-talked each other for a decade, were mostly friendly toward each other.
Joshua even tickled Fury during their faceoff. And during the press conference before that, some of Fury's first statements even praised Joshua.
"Listen, the one thing I will say, right? All the banter and all the trying to sell the show," Fury said. "Listen, this man is a two-time heavyweight
champion and an Olympic gold medalist. He's been a role model and poster boy for British boxing for years. I mostly find myself defending my archrival to fans that I meet in the street. I say to them, 'If you could achieve 10 percent of what this man has achieved, you'd be f*cking doing well.' So that aside, obviously we're here to fight, and fight we will, and I'm looking forward to the challenge.
"It's been 10 years in the making. The rise has been phenomenal for both fighters. We've had our ups and downs, and finally we arrive at this moment. I'm 38. AJ will be 37 soon. People say, 'Is it too late?' Is it f*ck too late? It's the icing on the cake of two great careers to throw down in front of 80,000 people, and let's the best man win."
Fury went on to say he hopes to have a pint of Guinness with Joshua after the fight no matter what the result is, to which Joshua replied jokingly, "I don't know, I don't trust you."
When Joshua was asked about Fury's questionable 2023 decision win against Francis Ngannou, whom Joshua knocked out with relative ease, Joshua took the high road.
"With Ngannou, he just wanted to impose his will, and my will was stronger, and I got the victory," Joshua said. "I trained against Ngannou like I did with any other fighter, same way Fury did, and there are comparisons in fights, of course. But he and I haven't stepped in the ring. I can't say I'm going to do this because he done that to this fighter or I haven't done that to that fighter. We haven't stepped in the ring yet, but December the 11th, it's going to be an amazing showdown.
"All of these comparisons don't mean (anything). All of us are going to witness the two of us putting fists in each other's faces and bodies, and the better man will win."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: First Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua press conference takes unexpected turn
