Tyson Fury believes a fight with domestic rival, Anthony Joshua, ‘has to happen.’
Currently, the fight between the two English heavyweights falls into the bulging category of the sport marked as ‘marinated for too long’, but there’s no doubt that fans still want to see it happen.
Fury, who is in his second reign as world champion, previously shot down the idea of the fight after the frustration of failed negotiations.
However, at a recent media event captured by Boxing Social he reversed on that, saying he would love the domestic dust-up to go ahead.
“I’d love it to happen. I think it’s got to happen.”
Fans feel the same way and Joshua does too – so the question remains as to why it hasn’t happened.
The pair entered rushed negotiations in the second half of 2022, with Fury offering to give ‘AJ’ a shot at the WBC Heavyweight title despite him coming off the back of two losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
Whilst looking promising at one stage, things quickly turned sour when the negotiations began taking place though social media posts and videos.
Fury set deadlines – unrealistically in the minds of some – that Joshua couldn’t meet, and they went their separate ways.
For ‘The Gypsy King’, that meant a third career fight with Derek Chisora before entering into another set of doomed talks, this time with Usyk for an undisputed fight.
Joshua didn’t return to the ring until April, where he beat American Jermaine Franklin relatively easily – although not the statement performance he wanted – over the distance.
Fury and ‘AJ’ may indeed fight on the same night this year, but if Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plans come together, it won’t be at the same time. The country is continued its efforts in the sport by attempting to stage Joshua against Deontay Wilder and Fury against Usyk on the same night.
If the two Brits win their contests, the proposed tournament format may be the key to finally getting them in the ring.