Former world champion heavyweight Anthony Joshua has gone scorched earth on an Olympic hero who, interestingly, offered to snap his retirement to fight him.
Linked all week with a showdown against the controversial Jake Paul, former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has come under fire for his apparent interest in the bizarre matchup.
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But with his return to action seemingly imminent, a whole host of fighters have offered to take on the Watford star next.
Namely, a former Olympic gold medalist and light heavyweight champion has once more staked his claim to fight Joshua — this time at Wembley Stadium.
Anthony Joshua claims Olympic hero is seeking a “payday”
Backed to make light work of Ohio native Paul if they actually share the ring, Joshua has been issued a sizeable call out by the 32-0 undefeated star Andre Ward — who called time on his own career eight years ago.
Offering to make the trip to Wembley — at the heavyweight limit no less — Ward claimed a pairing with Joshua would motivate him to return.
“Me and Anthony Joshua. That’s a fight that I would take at Wembley Stadium,” Andre Ward said on Instagram.
“It’s a dangerous fight for my legacy. It’s a dangerous fight across the board, but that’s a fight that would get me in the gym and get me in the mindset that I need to be in to go to war. It’s Anthony Joshua.”
Taking umbrage with Ward’s call out, Joshua insisted his fellow Olympian was simply looking for a significant payday rather than a real fight.
“Payday, payday (Canelo Alvarez) voice),” Anthony Joshua responded on social media.
Despite Ward’s intentions to snap his eight-year stay away from the ring, it seems unlikely it’ll now come opposite Watford puncher Joshua.
Andre Ward’s sudden retirement
Initially linked with a heavyweight move against then world champion Joshua back in 2018, Ward hung up his gloves suddenly in 2017, after his rematch win over fellow ex-light heavyweight kingpin Sergey Kovalev.
Linked with a cruiserweight move to take on Liverpool veteran Tony Bellew, a pairing between Ward and the former failed to materialize.
Interestingly, Ward was also linked with a stunning fight against current undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk during the Ukrainian star’s immense run at the cruiserweight limit.