Anthony Joshua sends brutal voice note to Carl Froch after public row

Anthony Joshua publicly questioned Carl Froch’s world title after sending him a pointed voice note.

The pair - former Team GB boxing teammates - have shared a tense relationship since then. They have butted heads on a number of occasions.

The Cobra shared a number of insulting messages between the pair earlier this year after Joshua’s upcoming fight with Daniel Dubois was announced. Froch suggested that Joshua was “spoiled” and claimed he had “lost a bit of class”.

And the pair have now butted heads again. The two-time heavyweight world champion sent Froch a voice note questioning his world champion status after his 2008 bout with Jean Pascal.

In a message sent to Froch’s podcast, Joshua said: “What’s happening? How’s your week going? How’s your podcast going? Quick question - when you boxed Jean Pascal for your first world title in Nottingham actually, Tyson Fury actually made his pro debut on that card, you fought for a vacant title right?

“So you didn’t beat a champion. What do you feel about that? Do you feel that you was regarded a champion because you fought for a vacant one? So the title not being there, it would have just been a normal fight. But they threw a title in the air and you became champion.

“You didn’t beat a champion, to become champion if you get what I mean. Do you feel like that win, not irrelevant, but it’s not highly regarded the same as if you was to have gone and beat a world champion? How do you feel about that fight with Jean Pascal?”

Froch responded to Joshua’s claim by suggesting that he was being made to wait by Joe Calzaghe at the time. He also hinted that any suggestions that he was dodging a fight with Calzaghe was “b*******”.

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He added: “Did I feel like world champion? I had the green and the gold belt. When I woke up and saw the belt at the bottom of my bed in the morning, I felt like a world champion. I know what he means. I didn't beat the champion to become the champion. That’s probably why he conveniently didn’t ask about the IBF title.”

Joshua’s identity was not revealed straightaway, with Froch waiting until the end of the podcast to reveal the name of the caller. He then assured that the pair have since overcome their recent differences.

He said: “I think they all know. Anthony Joshua was the first question. He sent me a voicemail. I think he’s alright. I think we’re seeing eye-to-eye. We’ve had a good exchange of messages. For all you fanboys out there that are upset that we’ve played the voicenote ‘oh you shouldn’t be releasing private messages’. Trust me, me and Anthony Joshua are okay.

“We’re both fighters. We’ve both shared the ring and we’ve shared same trainer and environment. He’s got respect for me, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and I wish him all the best. He actually said he’d be coming on the channel in the near future. He’s paying me lip service.”

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