Heavyweight contender Tyson Fury has advised his domestic rival, Anthony Joshua, to retire from boxing if he's unable to beat Andy Ruiz in a rematch.
On June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Joshua suffered his first defeat of his career at the hands of a massive underdog in Ruiz.
Joshua was dropped four times, before the referee stepped in and waved off the fight in the seventh round.
Joshua has already exercised a contractual clause for an immediate rematch to reclaim the WBO, WBA, IBF, IBO world titles.
The second fight is likely to take place in the fall, with a UK venue being the frontrunner to host.
Fury, who returns this Saturday against Tom Schwarz at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, believes Joshua's career is fully finished if Ruiz wins again.
"He has to get a couple of wins under his belt and convince the public that he’s a fighting man again. Got to school, learn what to do again. Get a bit of mental coaching, and that’s it. Try and make a comeback," Fury told IFL TV.
"If he can’t make a comeback, if he can’t beat Andy Ruiz Jr., you ain’t going to do anything to Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder or any other decent heavyweight in the world either. If he can’t beat Ruiz in the rematch he’s done, finished, goodnight, bye-bye. If he can’t beat Ruiz in the rematch he needs to retire, simple as. Forget about it. Give it up. He’s done well out of it, he’s earned a few quid, he’s won a world title before and everything else that goes with it. So fair play to him.
"If I can’t beat Tom Schwarz, then I’ll retire too, so that will make two bums retired won’t it? Because there will be no point continuing, that’s the way I look at it. If I lost to Andy Ruiz, I’d retire. And if I lose to Tom Schwarz I’ll retire too. I’ll have the rematch first and if I lose again I’ll 100% retire."
