That’s a no then.
It was always wishful thinking on the part of UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic when he offered to step foot in the ring with reigning IBF, WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua.
Miocic was one of many UFC fighters who made known their willingness to swap the Octagon for the boxing ring on the undercard of Conor McGregor’s multi-million dollar clash with Floyd Mayweather.
McGregor is set to make his boxing debut against the 49-0 great on August 26 in Las Vegas and while the main event is spectacular enough to ensure that it will be the most watched card in combat sports history, several UFC athletes have offered to add to the theme of the event by lacing up boxing gloves.
Hey @anthonyfjoshua let's have a proper tussle and still have time for tea and crumpets before the main event! #MayweatherMcGregor
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) June 14, 2017
Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino, Cub Swanson and Wilson Reis are just three who made such offers but Miocic’s seemed to have the most credibility behind it due to the fact that he’s at the top of his game and that Joshua had previously hinted at a desire to fight on the card.
But we can definitely draw a line under the possibility of Joshua vs. Miocic coming to fruition because ‘AJ’ took to Instagram with a hilarious put-down of the mixed martial artist on Thursday.
Joshua resorted to a phrase made famous by McGregor as he commented “Who the fooook is that guy?” under a post from HeavyweightBoxingUK.
Anthony Joshua's response to Stipe Miocic's offer of a fight on #MayweatherMcGregor card. #WhoTheFookIsThatGuy pic.twitter.com/z0EKCTR7qt
— Darragh Murphy (@DarrMurphy) June 15, 2017
Don’t worry. We’ve checked and yes it is that Anthony Joshua who commented.
In case you need reminding where that particular turn of phrase comes from, let us remind you of the time when McGregor stole the soul of a brave but unknowing Jeremy Stephens, a featherweight who dared test his skills on the microphone against ‘The Notorious’ last year.
