The two-time heavyweight champion announced his retirement back in January, but many believe he’ll still go head-to-head with Joshua this year
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has advised Tyson Fury to personally arrange a fight with two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
The ‘Gypsy King’ shocked the boxing world back in January after announcing his retirement from the sport of boxing. “Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet. I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it. I’m going to end with this. Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side. Get up,” he said in a video uploaded to social media.
His announcement came just a few weeks after suffering his second defeat to long-time rival Oleksandr Usyk. Following the crushing loss, many had hoped to see Fury go head-to-head with Joshua in 2025, however, following Fury’s retirement, it looks as if a potential all-British heavyweight showdown is off the cards.
It’s not the first time Fury has announced his retirement, therefore, many have backed the Brit to make a return to the squared-circle at some point. Hearn hasn’t lost hope as of yet, but believes it’s all on the ‘Gypsy King’ to rescue the heavyweight super-fight.
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In an interview with iFL TV, the promoter said: “I said it the other day in an interview, the way that fight gets made is probably Tyson reaches out to AJ and says, ‘Mate, do you fancy it?’ And he’ll go, ‘100 per cent, let’s f***ing do it.’ And it’ll be made like that. So let’s see.”
Joshua hasn’t fought since suffering a devastating knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois last September at Wembley Stadium. It looked like the pair would go head-to-head in an immediate rematch, but ‘AJ’ suffered a few slight injuries in the aftermath of the first clash which has since delayed his return. At the moment, the two-time world champion is without an opponent and Hearn is adamant they will not wait around to face Fury.
“This is not down to us going to the team. This is down to one man. Only one man can make this fight happen, and that’s Tyson Fury,” Hearn continued. “There’s one man that can make this fight happen and that’s Tyson Fury. We’re not waiting forever. What I’m saying is if all of a sudden in a couple of months’ time, he comes out… but this ain’t about calling him out to fight AJ.
“It’s got to come to him. He’s got to say, ‘Do you know what…’ Oh, and by the way, he’s training every day. Looks great. He’s the one that has got to turn around and say [I want to fight Joshua]. And I don’t know him that well, but I know he’s a competitor and I know he loves to fight.
“I know he loves the big nights. He’s a showman, and like many – don’t blame him – he likes a pound note. I just know those two collectively could give each other the icing on the cake of a great career. But only one man can make that happen, and we wish him well whatever he does.”
