‘I’ll be victorious’: Anthony Joshua contradicts Tyson Fury claim over boxing megafight and warns rival he has ‘no place to hide’

Anthony Joshua has appeared to rubbish Tyson Fury's claims that the duo have received several offers to host their summer superfight – and has told his countryman that there is "nowhere to hide" as their showdown nears agreement.

WBC champion Fury had claimed days earlier that there had been "big, big offers" from countries including Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US to host the event, which is expected to be the most lucrative fight in boxing history.

Fury told fans that he would be assessing the options on Sunday, and Londoner Joshua took to social media late that day to share "positive news" of only one firm offer.

"I'm lacing up my running boots right now," Joshua told his Instagram following of more than 12 million, explaining that management company 258MGT and promoter Matchroom had "received the first official offer to host the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world" contest.

"I will be victorious, god willing. No place to hide now. I'm coming," he concluded.

Telling fans to stay tuned for "more official news to follow", AJ's claims are in stark contrast to Fury's announcement.

"Just had some big news," the Englishman told fans on Saturday. "Interest from Saudi Arabia, my gypsy brothers in Qatar, Uzbekistan, Russia, America, England.

"Some big, big offers on the table. I'm going to go through them... and hopefully we'll get this big fight on," he said, while also threatening to smash his "dosser" rival.

Some punters are unimpressed by constant hold-ups and back-and-forth. 

"Am I the only one that finds this embarrassing? An announcement about an offer they just received?" asked one.

"This literally means nothing. They’ll get offers from everyone, [we] don’t need an announcement every day about a fight that clearly isn’t close to being done."

Another replied: "I've never seen a fight promoted like this. It's been 'signed' about 10 times now."

There were familiar calls for the fight to be held in both fighters' homeland. "Who the f**k is excited for this being in the middle of the desert when it should be in England, for f**k's sake?" scathed one boxing fan, presuming that the sole site offer must have come from the Middle East.

Another replied: "No, it shouldn’t be in England. Fighters put their lives at risk every time they get in the ring – they deserve every penny they get, so you go to the place that is offering the most.

"You cannot guarantee 80,000 or 90,000 at Wembley [because of pandemic restrictions] in the summer, either."

A cooler head said: "I fully agree this fight should be in England in front of their family, friends and home fans.

"But money talks in the sport of boxing. And when it comes to money, the Saudis are loud."