Izuchukwu Okosi
Former world’s heavyweight boxer of Nigerian heritage Anthony Joshua has played down media reports that he is will most likely accept a £15million payout to allow his rivals Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk fight for the undisputed heavyweight title.
Reports emerged yesterday that Watford-born Joshua whose father originally hails from Ogun state, South West Nigeria, was going to accept a massive money offer to let Fury and Usyk fight this year despite being contractually obligated to a rematch with the Ukrainian.
The Telegraph first reported the news, saying that no official decision had yet been made but that Briton Joshua was “close” to accepting a huge deal to forego his second fight with Usyk for £15m.
However, Joshua has hit back at that claim, calling it “bulls***” in a new social media video.
“You know what’s mad about all these interviews I see?” Joshua asked fans. “I see certain interviews that quote what I said.
“But I think to myself ‘I ain’t done no interviews,’ where did this person get this information from.
“I’m hearing people saying ‘AJ accepts £15million to step aside, I ain’t signed no contract – I ain’t seen no contract.
“As it stands, stop listening to the bulls*** until it comes from me, I’m the man in control of my destiny, I’m the man that handles my business.
“I’m a smart individual and I make calculated decisions every step of the way.
“Don’t listen to the bulls*** from other sources, if I tell you something then you know it’s real.
Joshua has been remaining laser focused on a rematch with Usyk since losing his belts to the former undisputed cruiserweight champion last September.
The pair were forced to fight after Usyk was ordered as WBO mandatory challenger when a fight between Joshua and Fury fell through for legal reasons.
Fury instead had to fight Deontay Wilder for a third time, stopping him in the eleventh round of a thrilling contest on October 9.
And Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn admitted last week to Mirror Fighting that there were large sums of money on the table to make Fury vs Usyk happen.
“There are substantial amounts of money available,” he said at a press conference for Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan.
“And there are people who want to try and make this route happen.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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