One of the first things Tyson Fury did after his victory was officially confirmed over Arslanbek Makhmudov was to grab a microphone and confront his long-time rival Anthony Joshua, who was sitting ringside, watching the entire scene unfold alongside his promoter, Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom.
But, despite Fury’s demand to enter the ring and commit to fighting him next, Joshua refused to even stand-up.
And, when speaking to Netflix after the call-out, he explained all the reasons why.
“It’s on him,” he said, before commenting on all the times Fury has fought, retired, only to return to the ring, and retire again, thus making an all-British bout difficult to book.
“Look, he’s the one that retired. I’ve been in the game, never retired.”
“I’ve been standing strong for the last 13 years. It’s on him, innit. He disappears, come back, disappears. I’m not here to chase fame, or chase hype. I’m a real person and fight whoever is in front of me, whether it’s him or the next person. It don’t matter to me.”
“I’m always in big fights. That’s just my style. I make the big fights happen. That’s why I said to him — he works for me.”
— Anthony Joshua, 2026
On whether he’d prefer a warm-up fight before he fought Fury, Joshua considered the “good question,” before saying: “[Fury] could be a warm-up fight after what I saw tonight. We’ll see. I was just in a serious incident just four months ago and I need to see what’s going on with my return to the ring. I’m here and keeping my eye on the game. There’s real stuff happening in my life.”
“I’m ducking no one,” he said. “Once I’m 100 percent, I’ll be ready. I run the game. Everyone knows … for many years. This is what I do.”
Joshua and Fury have been linked with one another for more than a decade but are yet to fight. It’s unclear if they ever will, though it won’t be as relevant and meaningful to the sport as it once could have been.
