Might fans never see the seismic domestic heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua?
The pair came agonisingly close to lacing up and facing off towards the end of 2022, with contracts exchanged and dates agreed. After negotiations dragged on, Fury set some deadlines that Team ‘AJ’ felt were unrealistic, and things fell apart from there.
Despite Joshua still consistently hopeful that the fight happens in the future, ‘The Gypsy King’s opinion is much more changeable. His latest take, as given to IFL TV, is that he’s not interested in the slightest.
“I’m not interested in whoever that is any more. That was the past. I’m just not even interested in talking about the tosser, to be fair.”
Fury is gearing up for a legacy-defining undisputed fight against Oleksandr Usyk – the man who has set Joshua’s career back a ways via two defeats. With talks going on behind the scenes, it’s expected that’s what’s next for both men.
From there, he said he’s open to facing Joe Joyce or Francis Ngannou – the recently out-of-contract MMA heavyweight star – in a crossover bout.
As for ‘AJ’, he’s looking at an April ring return to kickstart a campaign to become three-time heavyweight champion. Whilst an opponent (and new trainer) are yet to be announced, American Jermaine Franklin seems to be top of the list.
After coming so close to the heavyweight fight that many fans list as their most wanted, it seems like, just now, we couldn’t be any further away.
Of course, there are routes for Joshua to reach the top relatively quickly, and Fury could hang around there while he does so. If that happens, fans may be back to watching frustrating negotiations from the sidelines.