Tyson Fury stood victorious in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ring late Saturday night, fresh off a 12-round masterclass against Arslanbek Makhmudov. But the Gypsy King’s mind wasn’t on the Russian heavyweight he’d just outclassed. It was fixed squarely on one man: Anthony Joshua.
“Ten years in the making and still, after all this time, there’s uncertainty if this fight’s gonna happen next,” Fury said, his voice tinged with frustration. “I’ve no idea. I hope so but you can’t force someone to do something.”
Joshua had been ringside, capturing Fury’s methodical dismantling of Makhmudov on his phone. When the final bell rang, Fury issued a live call-out on Netflix. Joshua stared back, silent. Handed a microphone, a technical glitch drowned out his response. Later, in an interview, he finally spoke—but not with the clarity Fury craved.
“I’ve been chasing you for the last 10 years,” Joshua said. “You tell me your terms and conditions and I’ll have you in the ring when I’m ready. I’m the boss, you work for me. I’m the landlord.”
He added, “Contracts are being sent over and you’ll probably see us in the ring next, more than likely.” Asked if he needed a warmup fight first, Joshua fired back: “Good question. That [Fury] could be a warmup fight, based on what I saw tonight.”
Fury, unaware of Joshua’s comments, remained baffled. “I never mentioned Anthony Joshua in the buildup, or since his accident,” he said. “I’ve given him the respect he deserves and his space. Tonight he came here and I asked him to do the fight, but he didn’t give an answer. In my opinion he didn’t want no smoke. He didn’t look like he wanted it. He was shell-shocked.”
Joshua’s hesitation is understandable. Four months ago, he and his team were involved in a tragic car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his closest friends. The physical and emotional recovery has been grueling. His last serious bout was a crushing defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. He returned only in December for a lucrative but ludicrous scrap against former YouTuber Jake Paul, appearing lackluster before breaking Paul’s jaw.
Fury scoffed at the idea Joshua needs a proper test before facing him. “It’s another stumbling block. He’s just knocked a man spark out,” Fury said. “I’ve just come off a win. Let’s get it on. He’s 36. I’m 37. What’s the holdup? This was supposed to happen years ago but it’s still the biggest fight in boxing. I don’t think there’s a stadium in the world we couldn’t sell out.”
Pressed on whether a two-fight deal was in the works, Fury cut straight to the point. “Let’s just get one first. One would do.” He dismissed any notion of challenging the winner of next month’s WBO title showdown between Fabio Wardley and Dubois. “What have I got to prove against some schoolboys in the division?” Fury asked. “I want to fight Anthony Joshua, the same age as me, two British boxing legends. Let’s fucking fight.”
Fury expressed open surprise that Joshua didn’t climb into the ring Saturday night. “He was brought here tonight, ringside, for a reason – to get in that ring, make a face-off and get the fight signed. I signed months ago. He had his opportunity to accept and shake hands. Let’s dance. But he didn’t. He was very evasive and didn’t give no definitive answers.”
Money? Fury waved it away. “I’m not interested in all that bullshit,” he said. “I’ve got more money than anybody could spend in this fucking room. He’ll get his money and I’ll get mine. And if he gets £600m, and I get £50, good luck to him. It’s gone beyond all that.”
Fury’s manager, Spencer Brown, injected a note of optimism. “I think the fight will 100% happen this year.” But Fury’s doubt lingered. Asked if Joshua deserved more understanding and a tune-up fight after his personal tragedy, Fury drew on his own harrowing experiences.
“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. I’ve been one step out of a mental institution. So we’ve all had our problems and that’s life, unfortunately.”
He then framed the stark reality of heavyweight boxing. “But if you’re in this game, you’re either a boxer or you’re not. And the problem is, if you take interim fights in heavyweight boxing you can get chinned. It’s not like we’re two flyweights and it’s tip-tap. Just say he did fight Wilder and Wilder detonated on him. Does anyone want to see me and Wilder again? God knows, I don’t.”
Fury’s stance is absolute. “If it ain’t Anthony Joshua, next, I’m not interested in boxing. I’ll eat a thousand Easter eggs, go up to 35 stone. I’m out. It’s either him or I’m gone again. I’m not interested in up-and-comers. I’m not interested in someone trying to prove a point over me. I don’t care about rankings or belts. I only care now about AJ. That’s the defining fight for British boxing.”
The numbers tell a story of two legends on the backside of their primes. Fury is 37, Joshua 36. Fury went through hell in a trilogy with Deontay Wilder, winning two and drawing one, then lost twice narrowly to Oleksandr Usyk before his most recent retirement. Joshua, once dominant, looked a shell of himself against Dubois in 2024.
Now, with Fury issuing a retire-or-fight ultimatum and Joshua clinging to his timeline, the decade-long wrangling continues. The biggest fight in British boxing history remains tantalizingly out of reach—and time is running out.
