As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, Anthony Joshua did an interview where he challenged Deontay Wilder to fight him at Wembley Stadium in London on April 13.
The IBO, WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion had to watch on as WBC holder Wilder and Tyson Fury fought out a thrilling draw in Los Angeles a fortnight ago.
The WBC has since announced their intention to sanction a direct rematch, which if it goes ahead would leave Joshua on the edge of the biggest fights in his division.
But Joshua insists he wants part of the action.
Wilder said this week that Joshua's team was "begging" for a fight, while the Briton says he would much rather fight the American than domestic rival Fury.
Fury is the lineal heavyweight champion, having surrendered the belts he took off Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 when he took time out of the sport.
But Joshua threw water at Fury's claim of "lineal" champion.
“I’m not interested in Tyson Fury because he’s not the champion. That’s where I’m coming from. But that lineal status.... when I was joining the heavyweight ranks no one told me about lineal champion. I knew about WBC, IBO, IBF, WBA, and WBO - and I’ve got my hands on four of them, so I don’t know where this lineal just popped out of the woodworks from," Joshua said to First Take.
“But if I’ve got to get my hands on that too, and that’s a belt that the world’s interested in, then Fury can step in if he’s serious. That’s where I’m coming from. I wanna fight the champions. I’m the one leading the pack, I’ve been doing that since I made my debut. Five years in, seven world title defenses and I’m running the game. I mean business and I don’t know what more I got to do to get that message across to the world."
