Tyson Fury has claimed that he ‘needs’ a fight with Anthony Joshua and cannot see himself being able to retire until he faces the former heavyweight champion.
Despite recent negotiations falling through and Fury subsequently stating a fight with Joshua would never happen, it seems that ‘The Gypsy King’ may have changed his mind. In a conversation on the High Performance podcast, Tyson said the fight must be made and argued that he has tried for years to do so.
“I don’t think I can retire today because I need that Joshua fight. We have been trying to make that fight for years. It’s the fight that people want to see. It’s the fight that I want to see as a boxing fan”
Fury and Joshua’s public talks in September became the centre of attention, but, much to fans’ disappointment, an agreement could not be made. The WBC heavyweight champion, therefore, looked for other opponents and is now set to face Derek Chisora in a trilogy fight on December 3rd.
However, he echoes many fans of the sport by calling it a travesty if he and ‘AJ’ never meet inside the ropes.
“For the last four or five years, there has been this three-headed monster: me, Wilder, Joshua. Joshua and Wilder have been slain and I’m the last one standing. All of a sudden, you’ve got some new people coming up now – Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois, Usyk’s gatecrashed the party.”
“Now there’s a load of new blood that wasn’t there five years ago and it’s like, ‘can you beat this person?’ But I think it would be an absolute dying travesty if me and Joshua didn’t fight in this era.”
After Fury’s fight with ‘WAR’ Chisora, and perhaps an undisputed bout with Oleksandr Usyk early next year, fans can only hope that the historic British heavyweight contest could still be a possibility.