Anthony Joshua will have a warm-up fight in July before taking on Tyson Fury in November – 10 years after they first became rivals
Tyson Fury calls out Anthony Joshua
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have finally signed to fight.
Saudi Arabian boxing chief Turki Alalsheikh took to social media to announce the news, although there has been no confirmation from either side. “To my friends in Great Britain – it’s happening. It’s signed,” he said. Joshua will first have a warm-up fight in July against an opponent. yet to be announced.
Fury returned to the ring two weeks ago when he outpointed Arslanbek Makhmudov in his first fight for 16 months. Fury then revealed he had already signed to fight Joshua but his rival declined to join him in the Tottenham ring following the final bell. Assuming Joshua wins his comeback fight without sustaining an injury, he and Fury will meet in November with the fight to be broadcast in November.
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Joshua had planned to return to the ring in March following his stoppage win over YouTuber Jake Paul last Christmas. But the Olympic champion was involved in a serious car crash in Nigeria which killed two of his close friends, and so his return was pushed back.
The 36-year-old has been spending time working on his conditioning in Ukraine with WBC, WBA and IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk, to whom he lost twice in 2021 and 2022. Usyk believes his former rival is still destined for greatness and said: “AJ wins against Fury. AJ is the future undisputed heavyweight champion. I believe this because I’ve seen how Anthony is training. He’s a machine.
“I’m a fan of the soccer team Dynamo Kyiv. Sometimes my team lose. But I don’t say ‘you’re bad, you’re bad’. I say, ‘things happen, this is normal in sport’. “We must help each other. If we don’t help each other we’re not people, we’re animals.”
After outpointing Makhmudov, Fury was baffled as to why Joshua didn’t join him for a face-off. “He’s had his problems. We all have. God knows I’ve had problems myself. I’ve attempted to kill myself before. So I’ve been through it. I’ve been up and down,” he said.
“I’ve been one step out of the mental institution. We’ve all had problems and that’s life, unfortunately. If you’re in this game, you’re either a boxer or you’re not. The problem is, taking interim fights in heavyweight boxing, you can get chinned by anybody. Even a journeyman can knock a good man out because they’re heavyweights. They’ve got power.
“I never mentioned Anthony Joshua in the whole build-up to this fight or since his accident. I’ve given him the respect that he deserves and his space. But he came here for the job and I asked him to do a fight and he should have got into the ring, but he didn’t give an answer. He didn’t want it. He didn’t look like he wanted it. He was just shell-shocked, didn’t know what to say.
“Let’s get it on. It’s been 10 years in the making. And after all this time, there’s still uncertainty about if this fight’s going to happen next. Do I want it? Yes. But is it going to happen? I’ve no idea.”
