Following a contentious and uncomfortable FaceTime, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury seem to have confirmed the date of their much anticipated battle.
Despite several back-and-forths over the years, the fierce adversaries have never been able to come to an agreement on the parameters of a battle.
But if both British fighters win their next fights, a heavyweight contest looks more plausible than ever, with Turki Alalshikh of Saudi Arabia probably having a major influence on the matchup.
Before Fury looks to get revenge on Oleksandr Usyk for the first professional loss of his career on December 21, Joshua will first attempt to become a three-time world champion when he faces fellow Brit Daniel Dubois on September 21.
Alalshikh called the two guys together and indicated that he would want to plan the bout for the first half of 2025, therefore the two have already picked up where they left off in their verbal sparring.
‘Champ, finish the job on 21 of December and look who’s waiting for you,’ Alalshikh told the Gypsy King before Joshua added: ‘I’m waiting for you!’
‘I’ll get the f****** job done [against Usyk],’ Fury responded before ‘AJ’ hit back, saying: ‘No you won’t but either way, I’ll be waiting for you.’
As both fighters joked about each other’s punch power, Joshua quipped: ‘Stop using this [points to mouth] and use these [raises up his fists].’
Fury then raised things a notch, replying: ‘I’ll use them both on your face, you big ugly dosser.’
‘Shut up, you look like a tomato,’ an annoyed Joshua hit back with one final insult. ‘Put some sunscreen on, you idiot. You look like a tomato.’
Cannot wait! It’s going to be a historical one🥊🔥❤️🚨 pic.twitter.com/IHg1OtVQ2j
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) June 26, 2024
The call was made the same day as the Joshua-Dubois announcement, which nearly went awry when Joshua threatened to “smash a chair” over Dubois’ head during a heated argument.
It came to an end during the face-to-face. “September 21 and not before,” someone remarked, according to promoter Eddie Hearn, who spoke to The Stomping Ground. ”
“If you want to go now, I’ll go now too,” Daniel remarked. “Do you want me to smash this chair across your face?” AJ said in response.
“Never disrespect me like that again,” he shouted. There were no punches exchanged; they were all pulled apart.