Anthony Joshua insists he would love to spar Tyson Fury - but admits he wishes he had kept his offer private.
Joshua raised eyebrows on Sky Sports News on Tuesday when he offered to fly the Fury's Las Vegas training camp to help him prepare to face Deontay Wilder in their February rematch.
After recapturing his four world heavyweight belts against Andy Ruiz Jr, Joshua explained his belief that a win for Fury to take the WBC strap would increase his chances of a fight for the undisputed crown.
In an interview with iFL TV , he reiterated that stance and expanded on his desire to spar Fury - but he conceded he should not have added fuel to the fire by making it public.
Joshua said: "You know when I look back at some of the s*** I say I think, ‘Why did I say that?’.
“So now we’re going to talk about it and give more publicised things to talk about!
“You know what it is, Fury is a world-class fighter and I’m a world-class fighter that is still trying to improve so I can become like an elite-level fighter when I’m fighting.
“Sparring Fury is only going to do me good, in my opinion. So I’m never too big for my boots where I can’t learn anymore.
“So that opportunity, for me to spar Fury, is for my own benefit as well.
“And the reason why I thought about it and the reason why it came to fruition for me is because I feel like, if Fury was to win that fight I think he would be more inclined to fight me next and quicker than Wilder would.
“So how long I’ve been waiting to fight for the championship belt, I think if Fury had it me and him would have got a deal done already now.
“So that’s why I was rooting for Fury to win because I just want to fight and collect my last belt.”
