Anthony Joshua has dismissed suggestions he has signed a £15m deal to step aside from his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Reports claimed Joshua was willing to allow Usyk to instead fight Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight title, but Joshua has emphatically quashed such talk.
Speaking in a video posted on Twitter by TalkSport’s online boxing editor Michael Benson, the 32-year-old said: “You know what’s mad about all these interviews I see? I see certain interviews that quote what I said and I think to myself: ‘I haven’t done no interviews.’
“I’m hearing people saying: ‘AJ accepts £15m to step aside’. I ain’t signed no contract; I ain’t seen no contract. So as it stands, stop listening to the bullshit until it comes from me. I’m the man in control of my own destiny, I’m the man that handles my business.”
Joshua lost his heavyweight world titles to Usyk on points in September, before fellow Briton Fury defeated Deontay Wilder the following month to defend his WBC crown.
Fury’s promoters Bob Arum and Frank Warren have reportedly been pushing for Dillian Whyte – the mandatory challenger to the WBC belt – to agree terms to step aside, while also speaking to Joshua’s team.
“I’m a smart individual and I make calculated decisions every step of the way,” Joshua said. “Don’t listen to the bullshit from other sources. If I tell you something then you know it’s real.”