'He boxed his head off!' What really happened in Joshua vs Fury sparring session

Anthony Joshua ‘boxed Tyson Fury’s head off’ when the two met in their now infamous sparring session back in 2010.

The British rivals were on collision course this summer but a bout to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis fell through in July, much to the frustration of fight fans across the world.

But the two have come face-to-face in the ring before in a much-discussed sparring session over a decade ago, when newly-crowned ABA champion Joshua was still two years out from becoming a household name at the 2012 Olympics.

Fury, then a 10-0 prospect, travelled down south to Finchley ABC for what was expected to be a light sparring session.

But according to Joshua’s amateur coach Sean Murphy, Fury was rocked by the young prospect early on in the three-round session.

Murphy recalled in an interview with 5 Live Boxing podcast: ‘I think he [Fury] was expecting, because he knew Josh was 18 and ain’t been boxing long, an easy few rounds but they’ve come out and Josh has thrown a jab, right uppercut, left hook and he’s on wobbly legs!

‘He’s grabbed hold of the ropes and I’ve said to him ‘no you can’t do that you that!’ He’s let go but Josh really got the better of him in the first round.

‘So anyway they’ve come out for the second round I’ve said to Josh go and do what you’ve done, relax, straight punching. So they’ve come out and Tyson starts mouthing off to Josh, getting in his ear talking to him.

‘Josh is getting a little bit wild, trying to knock him out, and I had to tell him to stick to his boxing and do what I told you. So he’s gone out the next round, ignored the talking and just boxed his head off.

‘Then I’ve said ‘come on jump out’.

‘Tyson Fury’s gone ‘no, no, no,’ and he’s begging for one more round.

‘I went ‘no, get out Josh, you’ve done three rounds’, because I knew what the craic was, he was going to try and put it on him.

‘Josh probably could have handled but I wasn’t going to have it because I’m not sending an amateur in with a professional and get nothing for it. ‘

Joshua is set to defend his IBF, WBO and WBA (Super) heavyweight titles against Oleksandr Usyk in London on 25 September with Fury’s trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder to follow two weeks later.

Should both men pass their latest tests it is hoped talks for their unification bout can recommence later this year.

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