ANTHONY Joshua believes his resume will not be complete without a fight with Tyson Fury on it.
The world heavyweight boxing champion with Nigerian heritage is scheduled to fight Oleksandr Usyk in London on 25 September, but he is already looking beyond the title defence.
Joshua, who holds the World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organisation heavyweight titles, is hoping his next fight after Usyk is against World Boxing Council champion Fury.
“Do I need Tyson Fury on my record? I need it,” Joshua told the 5 Live Boxing podcast.
“Fight good fighters and they bring out the best of you.”
Plans for a proposed £200m megafight to unite the world tiitles failed a few months ago, but Joshua insists a showdown with Fury is hugely important to him.
“We need it for boxing,” he adds.
“Training camp is hard. To get better is very difficult in boxing. To fight Tyson Fury is a big challenge.
“I’m going to put that pressure on myself to actually get better. But it’s what we all need, I need it. Come on, let’s see how good I am.
“Let’s see how far I can take myself during this period. It’ll be a good challenge mentally. Not about him, but because I actually want to do well.
“When I wake up in the morning early and I’m tired, my body’s battered, I still go out and do what I do. It’s great rewards and only someone like Fury can give that to me.”
Fury is set to defend his WBC title on 8 October in his third fight against American slugger Deontay Wilder .
