Iyunade Grace
Tyson Fury has drawn a hard line in the sand after his comeback win: it’s Anthony Joshua next, or he’s done with boxing. Speaking after ending 16 months of retirement with a 12-round unanimous decision over Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Fury declared, “If it ain’t Anthony Joshua next, I’m not interested in boxing. I’ll eat a 1,000 Easter eggs, go up to 35 stone, I’m out.
The Gypsy King, 37, made the ultimatum with Joshua sitting ringside. Immediately after the decision was announced, Fury leaned over the ropes, pointed at AJ, and shouted, “Next I wanna give you the fight you’ve all been waiting for. I want you, AJ. Let’s f***ing dance.” He called it “the defining fight for British boxing” and said he doesn’t care about rankings, belts, or up-and-comers anymore — only Joshua.
Joshua, 36, wasn’t sold on the theatrics. He responded with a death stare and a middle finger instead of climbing into the ring for a face-off. When a Netflix microphone finally worked, he fired back: “Tyson, you’re a clout chaser, I punched you up when we were kids, I’ll punch you up again. You work for me. I’m the landlord.” Both fighters are past their prime, and the bout has been mooted for years without materializing.
Fury’s team insists the deal is nearly there. In his post-fight press conference he claimed he’d signed a contract for three bouts this year — including the Makhmudov win — and signed to fight Joshua. To his and Frank Warren’s knowledge, Joshua had not yet signed. Turki Al-Sheikh, the Saudi official bankrolling many of the recent mega-fights, teased on the Netflix broadcast: “Today we have a big surprise. I hope we announce the biggest fight in the history of England.
Despite the “Joshua or bust” stance, Fury contradicted himself minutes later by saying he was also open to a third option — a trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk. That muddied the waters, but his main message was clear: he’s mentally checked out of every other fight. “I’m not interested in someone trying to prove a point over me. I don’t care about belts,” he said.
The stakes are legacy, not titles. Fury spent the last 16 months out of the ring after back-to-back losses to Usyk. Usyk still holds three of the heavyweight belts, while Fabio Wardley has the other. Fury now frames himself as the hunter, not the hunted, telling the division: “I’m the money man in this sport… whoever has belts will be on their hands and knees begging me to fight me.
Whether the Battle of Britain finally happens depends on Joshua. Fury challenged him directly: “Do you accept my challenge?” For now, AJ was noncommittal. If he says no, Fury says he’s gone again — 35 stone, Easter eggs, and all.
The ball is in Joshua’s court. After years of near-misses, call-outs, and collapsed talks, Fury is betting his career that the only fight left that matters to him — and to British boxing — is Joshua.
