Tyson Fury could be in for an interim fight before boxing Anthony Joshua later this year.
The Fury vs. AJ showdown is expected to take place by the end of 2026, but Joshua is scheduled to have a preliminary fight in Riyadh on July 25th.
Fury, who returned to boxing earlier this month after a year of retirement, will also consider doing his own warm-up, potentially as early as July.
“He may decide he wants another fight,” promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports.
Warren explained, “It’s not surprising. Tyson wants to stay busy. Tyson has to focus on his life as far as boxing goes. There’s a date. And right now there’s no date (for the Joshua fight) because obviously AJ’s fight is in July.”
Joshua’s loss to Christian Prenga, a little-known Albanian he is scheduled to fight in the summer, could spell trouble for the upcoming fight with Fury.
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Andy Scott gives an update on the potential fight between Joshua and Fury. That includes the bizarre suggestion that Dua Lipa have to perform in a match.
“We’ll have to talk about that later. I hope he doesn’t lose,” Warren said. “If he can’t beat this guy, he certainly can’t beat Tyson. He’s got to go out and do his job.
“This fight is here for him to win and remove all the cobwebs from the horrible tragedy of losing two friends in a car accident and remove some of the mental issues. That’s what it’s all about.”
Even if Joshua wins this fight and Fury makes it through the warm-ups, a date still needs to be set for the heavyweight superfight. It will probably be October or November.
“AJ would want to fight on July 25th and get back to camp. That’s the timescale like that,” Warren said. “Tyson wants to do it as soon as possible. He wants to do it in August or September.”
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The venue still needs to be confirmed, but Wembley Stadium would be the obvious home for a fight of this scale. “Everyone in the UK wants it, but we’ll see,” Warren said.
But he doesn’t anticipate arguments over who’s on the A side or the B side, or who walks the ring first or second to derail the match.
“It should all be set in stone, but to be honest, it doesn’t bother me one bit, because for me there can only be one winner,” Warren said, rooting for his fighter, Fury.
“The money they’re being paid, they can skip and get in the ring and do cartwheels. They receive huge purses for that. It’s all because of the box office and the demand and the Saudi interest and funding it.”
“That’s a lot of money.”
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An unexpected curveball could be that Saudi investor Turki Alarusik wants Dua Lipa to perform at an event. But Warren doesn’t think that will be a hindrance to a Fury-Joshua showdown eventually happening.
“I highly doubt it,” he said.
“I hope everything goes well without any problems,” Warren said.
“This is a big battle. It’s finally starting. It’s going to capture everyone’s imagination.”
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