Custom Search 1

Lennox Lewis ‘disappointed’ with Anthony Joshua after row

FIGHTING TALK: Lennox Lewis and Anthony Joshua

LENNOX LEWIS has said that he is “disappointed” with Anthony Joshua after the British boxer called him a clown.

The pair’s clash started after Lewis said Joshua was not “fully prepared” for his fight against Andy Ruiz Jr, which he lost in New York in June.

Responding to his criticism, Joshua said that he and the former heavyweight champion were “cut from a different cloth”.

In Sky Sports’ AJ: The Untold Truth, Joshua said: “Me and Lennox are not the same. My legacy is to sit back and enjoy the younger generation coming up, and not to be involved. Just to appreciate what it takes to get there.

"Lennox isn't like that.

"Me and Lennox are cut from a different cloth."

The 29-year-old also said that he had no respect for the former boxer.

“Lennox is a clown. I don't respect Lennox,” he said.

Joshua also discussed his future plans and the impact of aiming to become undisputed.

"It was like I was coming to the end of my road already, worrying about undisputed,” he said on Sky Sports’ AJ: The Untold Truth.

"I became heavyweight champion, I unified the division twice, and now my goal is to become two-time heavyweight champion of the world. Once I achieve that, I can look at becoming undisputed champion,” he added.

In response to Joshua’s statements, Lewis tweeted today: “Wow! He’s right! We are cut from a different cloth. Undisputed wasn’t something I ‘worried’ about. It was something I went after until it was accomplished!”

He went on to say that he was “disappointed” with Joshua’s statements and encouraged people to question who benefits from the narrative about the two.

“Disappointed in AJ’s words but I understand that this ‘jealousy’ narrative was only fabricated after I criticised them for Wilder negotiations. All of the sudden I’m a hater.
Ask who benefits from such a simple minded narrative? Not AJ. Not me,” Lewis added.

Read every story in our hardcopy newspaper for free by downloading the app.