Tyson Fury and trainer SugarHill Steward have attacked Anthony Joshua for his failed offer to spar with the WBC champion before his last Deontay Wilder fight.
In December 2019, Joshua offered to spar with Fury in order to help him prepare for his February 2020 match-up with Wilder.
However, the sessions never materialised, and both Steward and Fury have hit out at the rival heavyweight champion for that and for his recent words in the press.
Joshua has gone so far as to suggest that Fury should be contemplating retirement, saying: "Fury has been professional much longer than me. He should be looking to retire soon.
"If he wants to cement his legacy, I’m here and ready. I’ve built myself into this position."
Steward questioned how much value to place on Joshua’s proclamations, telling Behind The Gloves: "Anthony Joshua says a lot. He was supposed to come into training camp and train with us, I guess that goes to show how far his word goes."
Fury followed up, backing up his trainer’s opinion.
"We wanted some of that action. He said he was coming, but he didn’t,” he said.
“We can’t really take what he says as his word anymore. If I’m too old in the tooth and I need to retire, come and retire me.”
Fury and Joshua both have one more fight before they are expected to meet each other in a potential unification fight in 2021.
Joshua is believed to be fighting Kubrat Pulev on 12 December as he defends his IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO world titles, and Fury will fight Wilder again on 19 December for his WBC belt.