Tyson Fury claims Anthony Joshua fight is off and calls out Oleksandr Usyk
· Yahoo Sports
Tyson Fury has claimed that his long-awaited heavyweight showdown with bitter rival Anthony Joshua is off and has instead challenged Oleksandr Usyk to a third fight.
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Joshua and Fury have been mooted to square off at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on 20 November, despite their bout being the biggest between two British stars this generation.
Negotiations have proven difficult, however. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has said “AJ”’s contract is for a fight in the UK, while Fury’s promoter Frank Warren has said the “Gypsy King”’s deal is more flexible.
Tyson Fury has suggested his fight with Anthony Joshua is off (PA Wire)Fury appears to have grown impatient over the lack of confirmation, calling Joshua “a coward” last week and now taking to social media to say the Matchroom star has “s**t his pants” over the bout and instead calling out Usyk, to whom he lost twice on points back in 2024.
“AJ has s**t his pants again, yet again,” Fury said in a post on Instagram stories. “After 11 years he has finally s**t his pants yet again.
“This will only lead me to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk. Oleksandr you’re his (Joshua’s) trainer and his sensei and you know he is a weak minded piece of s**t and that he would never fight the Gypsy King, which you have had the guts to do twice.
“You got the decisions last time, fair play to you. Good luck to you, let’s do it again. Let’s run it back in November. The ball is now in your court… do you want to fight me this year, 2026, or are you calling quits? Let me know because I am now looking for a new opponent.”
Fury (right) twice lost on points to Oleksandr Usyk (left) (PA Wire)Fury’s brother Shane recently insisted that Tyson will box on 20 November regardless of whether Joshua is the opponent and the “Gypsy King” doubled down on that idea shortly after, naming Agit Kabayel, Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois as potential replacement opponents.
The 38-year-old Fury last boxed in late July, stopping a 46-year-old Mariusz Wach in seven rounds. The fight, which took place in Thailand, did not air live anywhere.
One day later, Joshua stopped relative unknown Kristian Prenga in two rounds in Saudi Arabia. However, Prenga floored the 37-year-old twice in the first round.
Joshua’s contract is for a fight in the UK, claims promoter Eddie Hearn (PA Wire)Those two bouts were seen as warm-ups for Joshua vs Fury, but that week news emerged that ring walks would need to place at 2am in London if Wembley Stadium were to host the fight. Subsequently, Madison Square Garden was made the frontrunner to host the battle of former world champions.
Hearn has previously said an agreement hinged on his client’s net purse and while he insists Joshua’s contract is for a fight in the UK, Sela – the Saudi state-owned promotional company financing the fight – reportedly want a bigger American audience on Netflix and are thus targeting New York for the showdown.
Additional reporting by PA