Twitter beefs are always interesting, even if they aren’t always as entertaining as the last. In this era of social media, it seems like we always have some sort of hostility generated between two fighters on twitter. Perhaps it is just the nature of the business and all that comes with promoting, but maybe the time between fights builds up a sort of animosity that can only be unleashed 140 characters at a time?
Regardless, there have been a few exchanges between the “Gypsy King” himself, Tyson Fury, and Anthony Joshua, who fights this weekend at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London against Charles Martin. The two heavyweights from the UK have become rivals with Twitter as their battlefield.
Hopefully, and perhaps one day soon, they will be in-ring rivals and settle things in a manner we’re accustomed to seeing fighters settling a score.
The written jabs started earlier today as Joshua let Fury know that he’d have “a plus 1 ringside ticket” for the current lineal champion of the heavyweight division, and with it a picture of Fury congratulating Martin when he won the vacant IBF heavyweight title against Vyacheslav Glazkov back in January.
Joshua did not let up as he referred to Fury as a “fat boy” and insisting that Fury was “praying” for the young fighter’s “downfall.”
Tyson Fury responded with a tweet:
@anthonyfjoshua lol praying for your downfall, I hope u win, as u will make me a lot of money, for an easy fight,#liketakingcandyfromababy
— Gypsy King (@Tyson_Fury) April 5, 2016
After Joshua accused Fury of being jealous of him, to which Fury outright denied, the world title challenger kept the back-and-forth to a minimum while Fury unleashed:
Just in case anybody wants to forget, there is a massive Gypsy who rules the square circle, pic.twitter.com/QaXdKtE44E
— Gypsy King (@Tyson_Fury) April 5, 2016
Fury later referred to Joshua as a “weightlifter” fighting for a paper title.
Fury has business of his own to get ready for as the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko is next for him, although it does not have a date nor venue.
The argument could be made that Joshua is focusing on the wrong man as he gets ready to challenge for his first world title. However, if Joshua is who many believe him to be then he is already prepared for Martin and has been for some time. No, Joshua is more than likely focused and persevering plenty of energy, if needed, for Saturday.
Joshua wants to be a star in boxing and he looks the part physically, but in order to reach the top of the mountain, he’ll need someone to help catapult him to the top. He’ll need a dance partner to make him look good in ways he can’t do alone. In that case, Joshua is focused on the right man at the right time because Fury is the guy we’ll care about when the time comes. That fight needs to be big and, in boxing, fights only reach the highest peaks when they are built over time.
