Joshua - who returns to the ring next month - took aim at long-time rival Tyson Fury after his comments about Daniel Dubois' performance against 'AJ'10:27, 02 Jun 2026Anthony Joshua has branded Tyson Fury a 'd***-rider' after the Morecambe scrapper saw some encouraging signs from Daniel Dubois' performance against 'AJ.'‌The former two-time heavyweight world champion is expected to make his return to boxing on July 25 in Saudi Arabia against Kristian Prenga. Joshua was last seen back in the ring in December when he rendered YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul unconscious in the sixth round.‌Providing Joshua comes away from his dust-up with Prenga unscathed and with the win, he will then take on Fury towards the end of the year. While there is no confirmation of an official date and venue, the two heavyweight icons have finally put pen-to-paper on a fight.‌Last month, Fury brutally questioned Joshua's chin following his knockout defeat to Dubois back in 2024 at Wembley Stadium. The 37-year-old pointed out that Dubois failed to knock down Fabio Wardley, Filip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller, but was successful multiple times against 'AJ.' “Dubois fought ‘Big Baby’ [Jarrell] Miller, stopped him, never put him down. Then he fought [Filip] Hrgovic, stopped him, never put him down. He fought [Fabio] Wardley [...] stopped him, never put him down. He hit [Oleksandr] Usyk with some big bombs, never put him over, but yet he fights Anthony Joshua and pummels him, puts him to the floor five times.”FOLLOW OUR FIGHTING FB PAGE! Latest boxing and MMA news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook pageHe added: “I’m not saying Anthony Joshua’s chinless, but they’re the facts. Take it as you wish and as you will. Everybody else never went over, not a singular person – Big Baby Miller, Hrgovic, Usyk or Wardley, but Joshua goes down five times. Chinny, get up!”‌Ahead of his press conference with Prenga in London on Monday evening, Joshua finally got the perfect opportunity to hit back at his bitter foe. "I just felt like, as a boss, you can't ride the next man's success. It's [Daniel] Dubois's success," he told reporters, including Mirror Fighting."How are you sitting there thinking that, because Dubois had success, 'Yeah, that's what part of what I'm doing.' It shows the type of mentality that he has. That's not a boss; a boss is gonna create his own lane and talk about what he's done and what he's achieved. We could all talk about what [Francis] Ngannou done to him, we can talk about what Usyk done to him, we can talk about loads of comparisons. But for him to talk about Dubois's success and use it as his own, shows me that he's a d***-rider."Joshua was eager to take aim at Fury's clash with Ngannou in 2023. The ex-UFC heavyweight champion made the move over into boxing three years and would take on the 'Gypsy King' in his first professional outing. Ngannou famously dropped the Brit in the third, before suffering a contentious defeat on points.‌Just months later, Ngannou returned to the ring - this time against Joshua. There was no controversy on fight night as 'AJ' completely obliterated his foe in the second round.Following Fury's win over Ngannou, the Brit then suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk in 2024. Over the last few months, Joshua has formed a phenomenal alliance with the Ukrainian, and when quizzed on whether 'AJ' had received any advice from Usyk on how to beat Fury, he said: "I've fought Alex, and he didn't need to do that with me. What I'm saying is, what Alex does to Fury... we're all different characters."Maybe [I'd ask about those things], but... I know he read Fury's book before he fought him, and you learn a lot about someone when you get to understand their psyche. So yeah, I will definitely look at Fury's psyche, but my true battle is in the ring – it's not in a press conference." He added: "Yeah, I will [buy his book]. I'll get someone to nick it!"Article continues below