TYSON FURY has insisted he hits harder than Anthony Joshua – and claimed boxers that have sparred them both agree with him.
The Gypsy King, 31, confirmed on Wednesday that he will fight his British rival, 30, twice next year.
Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed the two heavyweight champions have agreed terms to battle it out to unify the division.
But both Fury and Joshua have fights against Deontay Wilder and Kubrat Pulev to take care of first.
Ahead of their showdown, WBC champion Fury has insisted he is the harder puncher out of him and AJ.
He said: “How many knockouts has Joshua got? Maybe he’s got 20 knockouts of about 22 wins, so I’ve actually got 21 knockouts on my record.
“The thing is, I turned pro at 19-years-old, as a child and I was boxing men, he [Joshua] never turned pro until he was like mid-20’s when he was a full set man and he already had a lot of fights.
“So I was learning as a young kid coming up in the game and I learnt the trade as a youngster coming through.
“Where if I would’ve turned pro at 25-26, then I would’ve knocked all the people out that went the distance with me when I was a young boy rather than learning the trade with them.
“So the actually fact of the matter is, I’ve never really been a stand still man and land big shots because I’m a slick boxer, but as we’ve seen, I’ve just knocked out the heaviest puncher in boxing history [Deontay Wilder].
“Andy Ruiz is not a big puncher but he knocked out Anthony Joshua, so I’d say I am a harder puncher than him.
“There’s people that have sparred both of us and they’ve said it as well that I’m a bigger puncher.”
Fury shared the ring for a sparring session with Joshua in 2010 as he prepared to face Derek Chisora for the first time.
AJ was a 20-year-old amateur at the time but Fury admitted the youngster gave him a “beating” for three rounds.
The all-British showdown next year could take place at the 65,0000-seater Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Fury and Joshua have agreed on a 50/50 split of the purse for their first fight and they are expected to pocket £55m each.
