Anthony Joshua could yet fight Tyson Fury later this year, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.
The Gypsy King is recovering from the first loss of his professional career at the weekend. He was downed by Oleksandr Usyk and missed out on the chance to become the heavyweight’s undisputed champion with the Ukraine star now holding all the belts.
Fury is entitled to a rematch that is scheduled for October, but that would mean that he would need to resume training in August following a brief break. The 35-year-old spoke of the need to take some time off, but Hearn has speculated that the two Brits could finally go at it or a third bought with Usyk could be on the cards.
He told Matchroom’s YouTube channel, “I don’t think Tyson Fury is gonna be over the moon with five or six weeks off, but that’s the obligation, there’s a lot of money. Who knows? If Usyk’s injured, can’t make the date, do you make Fury against Joshua – with the winner fighting Usyk? I mean the answer for me is, ‘Yes, please.’
“But it’s down to His Excellency [Turki Al-Sheikh] and the fighters to make the decisions. They have a contracted rematch, but they have to be physically able to make that date, and I guess that’s the next obstacle to overcome.
Joshua last fought in March when he downed Francis Ngannou, but since 2019 has lost to Andy Ruiz Jr and Usyk on two occasions, meaning he’s had to wait for a shot at getting his belts back.
There has long been talk of Joshua and Fury getting it on in the past but it never materialised with each camp blaming each other for that reality. The pair went at each other on social media with Fury putting AJ and his team on a timer to get the deal done.
Hearn later told TalkSport that Fury was unrealistic with his timings, but insisted Joshua would never duck a fight. He said, “I mean the fact is, huge fights like this don’t get made in two weeks. That’s the reality, when two guys have huge commercial deals with different broadcasters, it takes time.
“And we worked away with George Warren and it was actually going very, very well. Tyson Fury put us on the clock – on a 48-hour clock where the contract was nowhere near ready.”
Fury’s mind this year is likely to be on getting revenge on Usyk with the Gypsy King believing he in fact won the fight in Saudi Arabia. “I believe I won that fight,” he said. “I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them, and I believe it was one of those what-can-you-do, one of them… decisions in boxing.”
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
