Tyson Fury was apparently left speechless when he finally reacted to Anthony Joshua agreeing on the terms of meeting him in the ring. Joshua has signed a multi-fight deal to make his comeback, starting with a fight against little-known Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia on July 25.
If Joshua escapes unscathed, he will face Fury in November, most likely at Wembley, and the fight will be streamed on Netflix. After the announcement, Fury took to social media, posting only an eye emoji in response. The 37-year-old is currently recovering from his own fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov two weeks ago, which Fury won on points.
After the fight, the former Olympic champion urged Joshua to join him in the Tottenham ring, but his rival refused. Fury claimed he had already signed a contract to fight Joshua, with whom he had been on a collision course for a decade.
However, Joshua has yet to do the same, and his rival has made it clear that if the fight falls through, he will retire from the sport for good.
“If it’s not Anthony Joshua next time, I’m not interested in boxing,” Fury insisted. “I’ll eat a thousand Easter eggs, get to 35 stone and leave, I’m not interested. It’s either him or I’m gone again. Right now I’m only interested in AJ. It’s the most significant fight for British boxing; either it happens or it doesn’t.
“He was brought to the ring for a reason, to enter the ring, confront and end the fight,” he added. “He was very evasive and didn’t give any definitive answers.
“I know one thing, he didn’t say yes.” In my opinion, he didn’t want to smoke. He didn’t look like he wanted it, he was just shocked and didn’t know what to say.
“He came to the ring to fight. If it were me, I would jump into that ring and face him. Ten years of preparation and yet, after all this time, there is still no certainty that this fight will be next.”
“I don’t want to set any deadlines. Either he wants to do it or he doesn’t. It’s now or never.”
However, Joshua has now put pen to paper, stating: “It’s no secret that I’ve taken some time to consolidate and rebuild to be ready to get back into the ring, and today is the next step in that journey. I’m delighted to have agreed a multi-fight contract starting on July 25 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
“I’m looking forward to competing and picking up where I left off. Like I said, the landlord will collect rent, that’s for sure.”