Josh Dubin, the long-serving manager of heavyweight Hall of Famer Lennox Lewis, has issued a stern warning to Anthony Joshua as he prepares for his highly-anticipated December rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr.

Joshua has found himself embroiled in a widely-publicised feud with Lewis since the aftermath of AJ’s shock defeat to Ruiz in June – a fight which lost him the heavyweight titles once held by Lewis.

The 53-year-old did not hesitate to voice his criticisms of Joshua in the wake of his decision to immediately activate a rematch clause with Ruiz, which set up the forthcoming fight between the pair in Saudi Arabia.

Controversially, Lewis has claimed that Joshua was not "fully prepared" for his first encounter with Ruiz, and suggested that his trainer – Rob McCracken – could not offer Joshua everything that a fighter needs to “rule” the contemporary heavyweight division.

Joshua swiftly labelled Lewis a ‘clown’ for his comments, and with their war of words heightening, boxing manager Dubin has now decided to add fuel to this already-raging fire.

He prefaced his remarks to Boxing Scene with a strong warning to Joshua: “If he [Joshua] keeps it up, Lennox just may eat a few Snickers bars, come out of retirement, and beat AJ up to humble him.

"If Anthony Joshua was actually paying attention to his peers in the 'younger generation,' he would know that Lennox has been a mentor and friend to countless young fighters. He has always been there as a sounding board and supporter for these guys.

"Legends have the right to comment on the younger generation. Anthony must be cut from tissue paper if he can't take a little feedback from the last undisputed [heavyweight fighter]!"

Dubin has also warned Joshua to "pay attention to the business at hand instead of Lennox", but given the provocative nature of these new comments, we suspect that AJ might find this warning particularly difficult to heed!