Fury was knocked down twice by Wilder but boxed brilliantly in an enthralling 12-round encounter in Los Angeles and can count himself desperately unlucky not to be returning to England with the American’s WBC belt.
The 30-year-old accepted the verdict of the judges – with Wilder given the nod 115-111 on one card, Fury 114-110 on another and the third scoring the fight 113-113 – and paid tribute to his opponent.
But he was scathing about Joshua, the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion, when he gave his post-fight interview in the ring.
Fury said: “There is another certain heavyweight out there… chicken, chicken! Where are you AJ? Where are you?”
Fury and Wilder both said they are keen on a rematch, and their draw is set to scupper Joshua’s plans for 2019.
Joshua has Wembley booked for April 13 and been hoping to face Wilder in a unification showdown.
But that now looks highly unlikely with Fury and Wilder’s thrilling clash likely to result in a rematch.
Fury said: “We’ll do the rematch but we’re going to go away, recalculate, see what’s going to happen. We are two great champions. Never mind anybody else, me and this man here are the two greatest heavyweights on the planet.”
Wilder insisted he should have got the decision, having twice knocked down Fury, but was also keen to pay his respect to his opponent.
He added: “When you’re at each other and you have a great fight, we give each other all we’ve got. At the end of the fight that’s what it’s all about.
“He was just telling me what a great fight, he loves me, and thank you for the opportunity. We’re the best in the world. The respect was mutual.
“I was rushing my punches. That’s something I usually don’t do. I couldn’t let it go tonight.
“I was forcing my punches too much instead of sitting back being patient and waiting it.
“I really wanted to get him out of there give the fans what they want to see.
“I didn’t feel no pressure at all. When I rush my punches like that I’m never accurate. The rematch I guarantee I’m going to get him.
“I would love for it to be my next fight (on the rematch). Why not? Let’s give the fans what they want to see. It was a great fight and let’s do it again. It doesn’t matter to me where we do it.
“We’re the two best in the world and we proved it tonight. When you get two warriors you get a great fight. That’s what we proved tonight and I’m ready to do it again.”
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Caption:
Fury (right) during his bout with Wilder in Los Angeles, USA, in the early hours of Sunday.
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