Fury defends Joshua urge him to wake up

Father of loquacious British Tyson Fury, JOHN FURY has leapt to Anthony Joshua's defence and said his team need to "wake the f*** up".

Joshua was left fighting for his career when he returned in April, off the back of consecutive losses to pound-for-pound star Oleksandr Usyk.

And AJ faced criticism for his gun-shy comeback win against Jermaine Franklin, which ended in a comfortable points victory.

But Fury - the dad of Joshua's British rival Tyson - has urged fans to get behind Joshua in a time he needs some backing.

He told Stamina For Sale: "Poor old AJ, stop giving the kid stick.

"Support your man, support your man. We're all British and he's a fellow heavyweight.

"There are a few little rising UK heavyweight stars and I support them all, they need all the support and attention we can give them.

"If you supported him before, then support him now."

Joshua, 33, beat Franklin, 29, under the guidance of new coach Derrick James, his third trainer in as many fights.

And the pair are set to link up in Texas again to continue gelling ahead of a proposed bout with Deontay Wilder, 37, in December.

But Fury - who trains his 9-0 son Tommy - insisted psychology is what AJ is struggling with the most.

He said: "They are digging in the wrong places with him. AJ needs to be worked on mentally.

"They need to wake the f*** up and recognise the obvious problem with the kid and work on it."