Tyson Fury’s crush on Anthony Joshua lasted just a few months before the Gypsy King publicly ridiculed his rival as soon as fight talk returned.
Fresh from defeating Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Fury immediately turned his attention to Joshua, speaking in front of the crowd and Netflix cameras.
“I challenge you, Andy Joshua, to fight me, the Gypsy King, next. Do you accept my challenge?” Fury said.
“Let him say yes or no. Come on, you large shit!”
The call came moments after Fury urged Joshua not to run away from the fight and reiterated his insistence on a showdown that has loomed on the British boxing horizon for more than a decade.
Just a few months earlier, Fury had spoken about Joshua in a completely different tone.
Fury feels sorry for Joshua
After a fatal car crash in Nigeria that killed several of Joshua’s friends, Fury expressed sympathy.
“It’s so depressed. May God give them a good bed in heaven,” Fury said at the time.
While reflecting on the tragedy, Fury also acknowledged how breakable life can be.
“It could have been any of us in that car.”
These comments came at a time when Joshua’s life had been turned upside down.
Just four months have passed since the accident, and the former two-time unified heavyweight champion has shown no public signs of focusing on boxing since then.
Instead, Joshua spent much of that time with his team and alongside Oleksandr Usyk – a rival he faced twice for the world heavyweight title – seeking perspective after the devastating loss of close friends.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has already suggested that Joshua may need much more than a few weeks to properly process what happened that day in Nigeria.
Netflix
Joshua’s ambush was questioned
That backdrop made some watching Saturday night’s events feel uncomfortable.
Joshua was sitting at ringside when Fury suddenly turned his challenge his way, putting the Olympic gold medalist in his seat in front of the arena and a global Netflix audience.
The streaming platform quickly confirmed the news of the Fury vs. Joshua fight on social media, even though Joshua himself did not offer any commitment to the fight.
To many observers, the sequence looked like an attempt to push the fight forward, whether Joshua was ready or not.
Fury may finally get the gameplay he wants.
However, judging by Joshua’s behavior in the immediate aftermath of this fight, the Gypsy King may be wiser to wait until his rival is mentally ready before demanding the biggest fight in British boxing.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
A commendable sum of £73,500 was raised for charity as Tony Bellew and David Price gathered for a boxing night in Liverpool.
The gala took place on April 17 and former professional footballers clashed at the event, which was endorsed by sporting icons such as Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
The event, billed as “A Night To Remember II”, followed Pro Project Promotions’ first charity boxing event in October with the aim of giving retired athletes the opportunity to rekindle their competitive spirit.
Similarly, Pro Project Promotions founder Graham Stack, a former Arsenal goalkeeper, hopes to raise a total of £500,000 in the organization’s debut year.
He’s already close to halfway there, having raised a total of £201,000 for charities including Children’s Charity Merseyside and Autism Merseyside.
Stack made it clear that this was just the beginning.
“I am very proud to see Pro Project Promotions grow from strength to strength. These events give retired players a purpose, structure and a way to continue to compete for something that truly matters.
“To raise £73,500 [in April] and moving our total for six months over £201,000 is fantastic. We are closing in on £500,000 raised for the charity and I want to thank everyone who has supported us so far.”
Pro Project Promotions will return to Liverpool’s Grosvenor House Hotel on October 22, with ambassadors such as Natasha Jonas and Liam Smith expected to continue to provide support.
As for April’s performance, it was ultimately Swansea City cult hero Lee Trundle who won the main event against former Scotland striker Chris Iwelumo.
Participants, artists and charities for Pro Project Promotions’ next boxing event will be announced in the coming weeks.
One fan accused Stevenson of talking about major fights without taking steps to make them happen.
“The fuck is when are you??? You ran to Zuffa to avoid Shock??? You didn’t want to smoke with Devin, if you’re waiting for the right moment it makes sense if you fight, now you’re trying so tough to keep it 0,” the critic wrote.
Shakur either really doesn’t get it yet or is trying to masterfully do public relations damage control to keep his name among the division’s elite.
If Dana White runs Zuffa Boxing by the UFC playbook, the league format completely changes the game. In this world, you don’t call on top-level players or Matchroom players because you’re locked in a closed ecosystem. The UFC does not partner with Bellator or PFL to stage superfights, and they have no intention of sending their prized fighters to fight on a rival network under a different promotional banner.
If Shakur really thinks he can just pocket a huge salary at Zuffa and still easily land Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney, or Teofimo Lopez, he’s in for a rude awakening. The promotional walls are bulky, and Dana White is not known for playing well with classic boxing promoters.
At this point, Shakur still speaks like an independent performer who can dictate his own path. But if Zuffa is building a league, it has simply traded that independence for a corporate structure. He may find himself trapped in a gilded cage completely isolated from the struggles that he claims define the legacy.
If the UFC model is the plan, it guarantees financial security but risks complete isolation from the wider boxing world. By the time he finishes his tour of duty and realizes that mass promotion fights will be off the table forever, the physical attributes that made him a four-division champion may already be gone.
Former two-division world champion and top trainer Buddy McGirt has suggested that one fighter, between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, will likely go into the fight with one clear advantage.
According to reports, both pound-for-pound legends will face each other in a professional rematch scheduled for September 26.
However, despite the uncertainty, it appears that both fighters have agreed to collide in a fully sanctioned fight, with Mayweather graciously putting his 50-0 record on the line.
The 49-year-old hasn’t fought professionally since a 10th-round knockout of Conor McGregor in 2017, which came just over two years after he edged ‘Pac Man’ by unanimous decision.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, has competed in eight professional fights since their first meeting, most recently drawing to a 12-round draw with then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios last July.
McGirt said that because of this increased activity in recent years ESNEWS that it favors the 47-year-old Filipino, even if neither player can realistically claim to be a role model of activism.
“I am [going to] follow Pacquiao for the straightforward fact that Floyd didn’t fight – e.g [in] fight-fight – for how long?
“These exhibition fights, you can’t really count them. Then again, I’ll go with Pacquiao, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Floyd manages to do it.”
Although Pacquiao has fought more recently than Mayweather, his draw with Barrios ended a nearly four-year hiatus that followed his unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugas.
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