Tony Bellew claims Tyson Fury is the one fighting Anthony Joshua for the ‘money’

Tony Bellew says Tyson Fury is only interested in fighting Anthony Joshua for the money and claims the Gypsy King should have called Oleksandr Usyk for an undisputed title fight instead.

Fury took to social media after AJ’s second defeat to Usyk, challenging him to a Battle of Britain clash. Bellew believes the gypsy king targeted Joshua because he thought the 32-year-old would be an easy fight.

However, Bellew says that “AJ is fitter, stronger and more determined than ever,” but claims he must “stay focused and not let the media frenzy get a hold of him” as negotiations over the potential fight are still ongoing.

Speak exclusively with Sportsmail, via BestofBets.comBellew said, “The AJ fight is a money grab – that’s the truth.

Fury isn’t fighting AJ for the title he can’t take, but he just knows that AJ is the biggest draw in heavyweight boxing.

“If he had wanted a belt, he should have called Oleksandr Usyk. So the AJ fight, it’s obvious to me and everyone else, it’s for show and money, and a fight that Fury thinks he can handily win.

“And with AJ’s recent defeats, Fury seems confident this will be an easy fight, but as far as I’m confident, AJ is fitter, stronger and more determined than ever.

“He also doesn’t respond to all the talk on social media etc – he just keeps going which is a strength in itself. It’s all about blocking the sound.

“Fury will undoubtedly be the favorite of the night, but I wouldn’t write AJ off. We have seen what he has accomplished before and it could be done again.

“He knows Fury will use his weight advantage and when you step into the ring with him you quickly realize that this man can really move. He has incredible footwork; he moves so well for a big man, which makes him a nightmare.

“So if you don’t catch it quickly, you lose. And that’s why I think this is going to be a great fight, because maybe this works in AJ’s favor.

“He may not be a very experienced boxer, but he is a smart boxer and he understands fighting better than people sometimes give him credit for.

“It’s all up for grabs and I think it’s going to be an uphill battle. Furthermore, the media frenzy around it will be slightly different, but here AJ needs to stay focused and not let press and ‘chat’ come to him – if he can do this, he has a real chance.”

The Battle of Britain clash between AJ and Fury is still up in the air. The final contract for the December match has not yet been signed.

However, Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren have said negotiations are moving in the right direction, despite Fury’s frustrations.

Fury took to social media Monday afternoon to say the heavyweight showdown with AJ was off as his fellow Briton missed his 5pm deadline to sign the contract.

Fury said he was frustrated with Joshua’s team’s lack of movement and claimed he would look for a new opponent instead.

However, Warren managed to calm the Gypsy King and convince him to extend the deadline.

As a result, Fury took to social media on Thursday morning to tell AJ to sign the contract before the end of the day.

However, Eddie Hearn disagreed with Fury’s video and fired back at the Gypsy King. He said Matchroom had not received the contract when Fury said they had and accused the WBC champion of trying to dodge the fight.

“To be honest we are quite baffled by this situation,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “First, when we agreed on the terms of the battle, it took us over a week to receive a draft contract. We haven’t had that contract for 14 days.

“Over the past week we’ve worked tirelessly and had some meetings with Queensbury to get the contract into some sort of decent shape.

“Last Monday we sent out our final draft of the contract, only to find that Tyson Fury had publicly withdrawn from the fight and it was no longer on the table.

“We then received comments from Queensbury yesterday regarding a final draft of our agreement, which is now under review.

“I’m not sure why Tyson Fury continues to set unrealistic deadlines while also offering the fight to a number of other heavyweights for the selected date.”

Hearn continued: “If he’s serious about the fight, I suggest he allow Matchroom and Queensbury to keep working hard to make the fight everyone has worked so hard for.

“You can’t publicly pull out of a fight and then resume negotiations when so many positive conversations have been had. We’ll see what happens from here.’

Both sides are said to be currently engaged in negotiations. An announcement about the fight is expected to be made on Monday, October 3.