When Tyson Fury was asked if his fight against Anthony Joshua came too late for both boxers, the Gypsy King replied: “Is it too late?…It’s the icing on the cake of two great careers.”
Former heavyweight world champions Fury and Joshua came face to face on Wednesday in London to allay months-long fears and rumors surrounding their long-awaited fight, which has been confirmed for December 11 in Cardiff.
The British boxing stars are 38 and 36 years old respectively and have been keeping the boxing world waiting for years.
For many fans, why it took so long to agree on a fight is almost as big a question as who will win.
Neither boxer wanted to take the hit for delaying the biggest fight in British boxing history when they appeared before the media in London. Fury blamed Joshua, despite reports that Joshua insisted the fight would take place in the UK for the sake of local fans.
“You cried backstage to get out of that fight,” Fury said. “I’ve got you in checkmate. You have to fight. I said I’ll fight anywhere.”
But is the Gypsy King right? Can Fury vs Joshua live up to 10+ years of hype?
Al Jazeera Sport explains:
Ten years of near misses
Joshua and Fury are boxers who decide their destiny in the ring, but outside of it, their promoters negotiate contracts, choose venues and make headline calls.
The story dates back 10 years and is full of near misses, contractual issues, and other fighters entering the fray.
It all started in 2020, when both camps agreed to a two-fight deal. A year later, contracts were signed for an undisputed heavyweight showdown. However, Deontay Wilder, a former American world heavyweight champion, won an arbitration that forced Fury into a trilogy fight in 2021.
In 2022, Joshua reportedly agreed to a 60-40 purse split in favor of Fury, but that deal fell through as well. During this period, undefeated Ukrainian heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk beat Joshua twice and also beat Fury twice.
All this time, Fury vs. Joshua hasn’t come to fruition.
Eddie Hearn vs. Dana White
Online streaming platform Netflix, which owns global rights to the fight, billed it as a collaboration between Saudi sports broker Turki Alshikh’s The Ring magazine and Dana White, owner of mixed martial arts promotion UFC.
Neither Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn nor Fury’s promoter Frank Warren were named when talk of the fight resurfaced earlier this year.
Alshikh and White co-founded a boxing promotion, Zuffa Boxing, which launched earlier this year and became a point of contention in the Joshua-Fury fight. Hearn believed that Joshua’s contract prohibited White and Zuffa’s parent company from any promotional roles.
“Dana White cannot be involved in this fight promotion,” Hearn said recently.
However, Fury saw things differently and blamed Hearn for costing “the biggest fight in boxing history” in an Instagram post.
White was not seen at the London press conference, where fans booed his name.
A battle of egos
In boxing, the name that appears first on the poster generally refers to Side A, or the bigger fighter.
Joshua claimed he received a call asking if he minded that Fury’s name came first, because Fury was “not willing to sign unless he did.”
Fury boasted: “I’m number one.”
There was also the question of the location of the fight and, more particularly, the host country.
Joshua insisted he would make sure it happened in the UK, while White had insisted it be held at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“I know we’re going to inspire this generation, and I know for a fact we’re going to inspire the next generation,” Joshua said.
The niceties didn’t last long between the opponents as Fury claimed he would knock Joshua out.
“I’m going to catch it and, when I do, it’s going to be curtains,” Fury said.
Joshua welcomed the outburst and said: “This is the energy we want. »
In the end, money sealed the deal.
British media reports indicate the fighters will share a $200 million purse and pocket more than “any British fighter has ever won in a fight.”
Gn sports
