Tyson Fury Declares Joshua Fight Off After Deadline Passes
The proposed title fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury appears to be off after the Fury-imposed deadline for the contract to be agreed to passed without Joshua’s signature. Boxing fans had hoped for a “Battle of Britain” clash between the two on December 3 in Cardiff.
Anthony Joshua’s Fight With Tyson Fury is in Doubt. © Pixabay.
The hopes of a fight between Anthony Joshua and the current WBC title holder Tyson Fury appear to be over after a deadline imposed by Fury for contracts to be signed passed yesterday,
WBC champion Fury, 34, warned his fellow Brit that the unbeaten fighter would find an alternative opponent if the contract were not signed by 5 pm on Monday. That deadline passed without Joshua signing the contract, so Fury posted the following on Instagram;
“Well, guys, it’s official. D-day has come and gone. It’s gone past five o’clock, Monday. No contract has been signed,”
“It’s officially over for Joshua. He is now out in the cold with the wolfpack.
“Forget about it. Always knew you didn’t have the minerals to fight the ‘Gypsy king’.
“Regardless of what you say now, I don’t really care. Good luck with your career and your life. End of. Peace out.”
The news will come as a blow but not entirely a shock for boxing fans, who have had their hopes raised and dashed over a potentially lucrative fight between the two for years. However, the chances of the bout going ahead seemed unlikely once Fury announced his deadline.
Anthony Joshua’s management team verbally accepted Fury’s offer of a 60/40 split of the purse on Friday, September 11 but didn’t announce it due to Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. However, television executives from BT Sport and online streaming platform DAZN met yesterday (Monday) to agree on terms to show the fight. Joshua’s team said legal experts were examining the contract.
Also posting on Instagram, Joshua wrote: “It ain’t in my hands, it’s with a legal team,” Joshua said on Instagram. “That’s why you hire lawyers.
“You know the history of boxing – make sure you get your legal terms right. That’s why you get good management and good lawyers.
“So, of course, I’m going to sign the contract – it’s just with some lawyers at the minute.”
Fury, as the WBC holder, has the upper hand in negotiations but said he was willing to “throw the dog a bone” in respect of offering Joshua another chance to become a heavyweight champion again.
Prior to June 2019, Anthony Joshua was, like Fury, unbeaten as a professional and had beaten some impressive fighters, namely Wladimir Klitschko, Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin. However, a disastrous fight with Andy Ruiz saw the Brit lose the WBA, WBO, IBF and the IBO world heavyweight titles. Ruiz was a massive underdog in the bout but had Joshua on the canvas twice in 3rd round and twice in the 7th.
Although Joshua won the rematch against Ruiz and a subsequent fight against Kubrat Pulev, he has lost his last two fights, both of which were against Oleksandr Usyk. In the first fight in September 2021 he lost by unanimous decision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and by a split decision in the rematch in August in Jeddah.
However another name who could face either Joshua or Fury is Joe Joyce who won his bout with Joseph Parker at the weekend. The 6ft 7in and 19st Brit only turned professional at the age of 31, but has won all of his 15 fights and will be a popular choice for boxing betting fans.
Speaking after the win against Parker, who hadn’t been stopped previously, The Juggernaut said: “I’ve realised that people are taking me seriously now,”
“A lot of people thought Parker was going to win. It was such a tough fight, but the way I dispatched him like that with that finish has changed minds.”
Joyce, an Olympic silver medallist, could also face unified heavyweight champion and WBO belt holder Oleksandr Usyk. The pair have met before, Usyk won over five rounds in an amateur fight in 2013.
However, if Fury does have a change of heart and the Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua fight goes ahead, you can find the latest odds for the bout in our blog section.
