TYSON FURY has slammed Anthony Joshua claiming he was "gifted" his world heavyweight titles while the Gypsy King was suffering from mental health problems.
Fury won the belts that are currently held by Joshua when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision in November 2015.
Fury picked up the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles spectacularly ending Klitschko’s 10-year reign as the heavyweight champion.
But due to his well-documented mental health struggles, the Gypsy King had to vacate the belts which AJ then won in fights with Charles Martin, Klitschko and Joseph Parker.
And the 30-year-old fighter diminished his rival Brit’s accolades claiming Joshua only benefited from his break from boxing.
He told ESPN's Max Kellerman on Max on Boxing: “Let’s face true facts. I always tell the truth and the truth of the matter is this, he [Joshua] was gifted the belts by me on my personal problems.
"Which is not his fault or his management team's fault, I had my own issues going on and everybody knows about them.
"So he didn’t actually win any belts, he was given them, he beat an older Klitschko who had all the time out the ring and was humiliated by me, don’t forget, in his own backyard.
"He fights Parker and Povetkin, no disrespect to those guys both good fighters, but they’re not on the level as it’s been proved time and time again."
Fury also questioned Joshua's legacy claiming he avoided fighting him now that the Gypsy King is fully fit, and also missed an opportunity to unify the division by beating WBC king Deontay Wilder.
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Instead, Joshua has been confirmed to make his Stateside debut when he faces Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 1.
Fury added: "The biggest factor and letdown of his career was not taking the Wilder fight when he was given the opportunity, for a hell of a lot of money.
"It would’ve cemented his place at the top.
"The thing with him is, one minute when I’m out of shape, when I’ve got 140lbs to lose he tells me to ‘get fit you fat this and that and I’ll beat you up'.
"And all of a sudden, when I’m fit and when I’m doing well, he’s not interested in the fight anymore.
"So how can we take a guy like this serious, he didn’t want to fight the WBC champion, for whatever reason, and then he doesn’t want to fight Tyson Fury."
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