ANTHONY Joshua has accused Joseph Parker and his promoter of “acting” and warned his rival he has already begun preparations for their expected unification title fight.
The IBF and WBA champion hopes terms will soon be agreed with WBO titlist Parker for a fight, potentially at London’s 02 Arena, early next year so that he can begin his training camp in the first week of January.
Joshua, 28, wants to fight three times in 2018 and most recently has seen the unorthodox video made by the New Zealander and his eccentric promoter David Higgins in which he is goaded for supposedly having a “glass jaw”.
Though he has been on holiday in Dubai he has already analysed his most recent performance, last month’s stoppage defeat of Carlos Takam, and is confident of applying what he has learnt if the “talking” stops.
“It seems like everyone’s doing the talking for some people at the minute, so we’re just trying to go direct to the source,” Joshua told said.
“There’s one thing talking about what’s going on, and acting, but negotiations aren’t done over social media. That’s not where negotiations take place. Behind closed doors we’re keeping negotiations going.”
Referencing the potential difficulty of fighting at Wembley Stadium while it is occupied by Premier League Tottenham, Joshua continued: “It seems to only be in boxing: that’s not my job. I work with professionals and put them in place to care for these types of things.
“I should be focusing on how I’m going to knock out my next opponent.”
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