Fury says fight with Joshua looks unlikely with venue yet to be agreed

Former world heavyweight champion Tyson ⁠⁠Fury has said his long-awaited boxing showdown with fellow Briton Anthony Joshua “doesn’t look like it’s going to happen”, accusing his rival and promoter Eddie Hearn of being “money-thirsty”.

The Joshua vs Fury fight – one of the biggest in British boxing history – was expected to be held in November after both signed a contract with Turki Alalshikh, Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority chairman.

But there has been no clarity over the date and venue of the blockbuster bout.

“Doesn’t look like they’re going to sign the fight, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen all because Eddie Hearn and that want more money,” Fury said in a series of expletive-laden Instagram stories on Friday.

According to several media reports, Joshua and his promoter Hearn have signed a contract for the fight to be staged in the United Kingdom, while Saudi organisers are pushing for a move to the United States, with Madison Square Garden in New York emerging as the frontrunner.

Fury, the two-time world champion, said Joshua is demanding a bigger fight purse.

“They have already had that much money off Turki [Alalshikh] over the last few years, Eddie and AJ, they have had boxing deals, they have had darts deals, they have had snooker deals, they have had everything,” Fury added.

“And yet, they have got the audacity … to ask for more money from old Turki that you have had combined over the last couple of years.”

Calling Joshua and Hearn “disgusting”, Fury added that he would move on and fight someone else.

“… But just know you never had the guts to fight Tyson Fury, ever, you little coward,” he said.

Fury, who ⁠⁠turns 38 in August, has won 36 ⁠⁠professional bouts, suffering his ⁠⁠only losses in two fights with Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in 2024. He announced his return to boxing in January, having retired from the sport in December 2024 after losing to Usyk in a bout for three of the four major world titles.

Joshua and Fury were unable to agree on terms in 2021, and plans for the face-off fell apart after a US judge ruled Fury had to face Deontay Wilder in a trilogy fight instead.