As part of Sky Bet’s deepened focus on content, the latest episode of ‘The Overlap’, saw Gary Neville catch up with Anthony Joshua, as he reflected on why the fight with Tyson Fury isn’t happening next. 

The former England and Manchester United defender emphasised his bewilderment at why the ‘fight which everyone wants to see next’, wasn’t going ahead, to which Joshua replied with criticism of his heavyweight rival. 

He stated: “There were no qualms on my end – I was ready and then he bailed out on not only me, but the boxing world because this is the first time in 120 years or so that two fighters would have fought for the undisputed title – it’s a legacy fight. 

“But from my truth, all I can say is if you look at the history, the email trail, the conversations and the deal in place, we were the ones that found the venue and took the offer to them, they couldn’t fulfill their end by just putting a signature on a contract.”

The Watford-born champion added that he wished Fury had been transparent from the outset over his status with regards to being able to fight for all four heavyweight belts this year. 

Instead of a fight with Fury, Joshua will now take on mandatory challenger, Oleksandr Usyk, whilst ‘The Gypsy King’ fulfills his contractual obligation of a trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder. 

Joshua’s clash with Usyk, the much-feared and undefeated Ukrainian former unified cruiserweight champion, takes place on September 25th at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in a fight that is likely to be the final hurdle on his road to an undisputed heavyweight title battle. 

The Overlap is a series presented by Sky Bet on YouTube and sees Neville interviews some of sports most interesting and recognisable stars.