Tyson Fury has vowed to knock Anthony Joshua “spark out” after the two-time world heavyweight champion issued a chilling warning to Jake Paul ahead of their bout on Friday.
Joshua, 37, is just two days away from stepping into the ring with YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul, 28, at Miami’s Kaseya Center. The bout will not be an exhibition but rather a professional contest, meaning the result will go on each man’s record and a knockout is possible.
With Paul facing a mammoth step up in competition and size, many have feared what state the American will be in come the end of the fight and Joshua has played into worries of a serious injury being sustained.
“I was actually looking at myself today, I’m a very respectful guy brought up by a good family. But if I can kill you, I will kill you,” Joshua said after the open workouts.
Fury, who is lined up for another return from retirement in 2026 and could finally share the ring with “AJ” for a “Battle of Britain”, had some stern words for his countryman in response.
“I’ve just been sent a video of Anthony Joshua talking about if he kills somebody, he kills somebody in a boxing ring,” he said while on the school run with wife Paris. “I think he’s a little bit long in the tooth to be talking s**** like that.
“He’s (a) 37-year-old at the end of his career fighting a YouTuber, a Disney Channel guy who Tommy (Fury) beat, and now he’s talking about killing him and all that to try and sell. Please, barking up the wrong tree, idiot.
“Here’s a fun fact. If I ever come across you, bum, I’m knocking you dead spark out. I ain’t YouTuber or a man half your size. I am him. The man.
“You’re a classless loser, coming off at 15-month knockout defeat to a local lad (Daniel Dubois). Imagine if someone from Morecambe knocked me out (scoffs). You big bum useless dosser. Get up and I can’t wait if Jake Paul knocks you spark out, you big bum.”
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Joshua’s record stands at 28-4 (25 KO wins), and the Briton has beaten the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin and Kubrat Pulev, while also facing Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois at the elite level.
Joshua has not fought since September 2024, when he was knocked out by Dubois at Wembley Stadium, suffering four knockdowns en route to defeat – the fourth loss of his career and second by stoppage.
Paul, meanwhile, is 12-1 (seven KO wins) as a professional and has defeated – among others – former boxing world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, former UFC champions Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva, and heavyweight boxing icon Mike Tyson, who was 58 at the time they fought.
