Anthony Joshua has called Lennox Lewis “a clown” and said they “are cut from a different cloth”.
Lewis, who remains the last undisputed heavyweight champion, criticised Joshua in the aftermath of his defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr, tweeting: “I can’t look at that fight and agree that AJ was fully prepared.”
In response, Joshua said: “Lennox is a clown. I don’t respect Lennox.
“Me and Lennox are not the same. My legacy is to sit back and enjoy the younger generation coming up, and not to be involved. Just to appreciate what it takes to get there.
“Lennox isn’t like that.
“Me and Lennox are cut from a different cloth.”
Like Joshua, Lewis also suffered shock defeats during his career, coming against Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, but the Briton avenged these losses by winning the rematches.
Joshua has the chance to do the same against Ruiz Jr on 7 December in Saudi Arabia, with the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles at stake.
And this time around, the 29-year-old admitted he won’t be looking past Ruiz Jr to a potential unifying fight against WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
“I’m not focusing on that anymore,” he said. “I’d had 22 fights and was talking about being undisputed. What am I going to do after? Go and fight Otto Wallin?
“It was like I was coming to the end of my road already, worrying about undisputed.
“I became heavyweight champion, I unified the division twice, and now my goal is to become two-time heavyweight champion of the world. Once I achieve that, I can look at becoming undisputed champion.
“That undisputed stuff? It was right in front of me but it was one of the biggest curses lingering over my head when I was champion.”
