Tyson Fury has taken aim at Anthony Joshua’s public push to stage their long-discussed heavyweight showdown in England, questioning his rival’s patriotic stance by revisiting a controversial speech in which Joshua appeared to support avoiding spending money in white-owned businesses.
Fury, 38, and Joshua, 36, remain locked in a tense back-and-forth over the location of their blockbuster boxing fight, with the debate understood to be focused on whether the event should take place at London’s Wembley Stadium or at Madison Square Garden in New York, the venue reportedly favoured by Netflix.
On Tuesday, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn suggested talks over a Wembley date had been revived, despite the contest previously appearing close to being finalised for New York in November. The development has added fresh momentum to the campaign to keep the all-British heavyweight clash on home soil.
Fury, however, has now sought to challenge the idea that Joshua’s position is driven by affection for Britain. Earlier this year, Daily Mail Sport reported that Joshua had relocated from the UK to Dubai, at a time when many were attempting to leave the region amid escalating fears linked to conflict in the Middle East.
Fury, who himself is based in the Isle of Man for tax reasons, also referred back to Joshua’s appearance at a Black Lives Matter march in 2020. During that event, Joshua read aloud a letter written by his friend Reece Campbell, which called on those present to stop spending with white-owned shops and businesses.
‘Show them where it hurts,’ Joshua had said. ‘Abstain from spending your money in their shops and economies, and invest in black-owned businesses.’
Anthony Joshua’s 2020 Black Lives Matter speech has been brought back up by his great boxing rival Tyson Fury
A shirtless Fury was relentless in his criticism of Joshua and his perceived dodging of the fight
Fury re-posted the video of the speech, writing: ‘This is the man who loves England, absolute s*** bag! Total peice of s*** bully with zero guts! Don’t let them deceive you! & Living in Dubai.’
In an address to camera, Fury accused Joshua of trying to derail their fight to avoid being embarrassed: ‘If I agreed to tie both hands behind my back and wear solid cement boots, Anthony Joshua would never get in the ring with me because I’ll annihilate him.
‘And he’s a piece of s*** bully, and that’s his game—bullying people like he tried to do to Daniel Dubois, and he got knocked spark dead out.
‘The latest news from them is, “Tyson don’t want to fight in England”. Why the f*** wouldn’t I want to fight in England, you sausage? “Tyson only wants to fight in America”. Are you joking or what?
‘Tyson is not in charge of this fight. Tyson didn’t put the money up for this fight. Tyson is not the paymaster. Netflix are and Turki Al-Sheikh. Lovely. If it’s in England, even better. I’ll knock the motherf***er out even quicker. Prime time England, 10 o’clock, Wembley Stadium, 100,000 people. Why the f*** wouldn’t I want it in England? Doesn’t make any sense, does it?
‘Like I said, who do you think you are? You and your little pathetic puppet Eddie Hearn trying to save you. There’s no escaping, you know. I’ll come to Watford (Joshua’s hometown) and I’ll set about you. I’ll batter you in your own front garden, you piece of s***.’
‘There is no getting out of this one. There is no getting out of this one. Get ready for this fight. I’ve had enough of your sauce to last me 11 years. I’m battering the f*** out of you, you useless dosser, piece of s***. That’s what you are. And you know it as well, and everybody else knows what you are: a coward.’
Fury posted this video where Joshua called for ‘abstaining on spending’ from a friend’s letter
Roaring out his title of the ‘Gypsy King’, Fury added: ‘You’s are going down, and the cash cow is getting knocked out. Because after this, he won’t be able to show his face in public ever again.
‘You’re a useless dosser, a big bodybuilding piece of s***. Too many weights, not enough speed. When I crack a big right hook off it, you’ll go over like spaghetti legs Deontay Wilder. But he’s 10 times the man you’ll ever be, because he’s got a pair of b*****ks like King Kong, and you’ve got a pair of b*****ks like two f***ing garden peas, you piece of s***.’
Joshua has still not signed his contract for the Battle of Britain fight. Promoter Frank Warren, who suggested that in reality boxing’s longest hatching deal had to be finalised by this weekend, told Daily Mail Sport’s Jeff Powell: ‘AJ hasn’t signed yet.
‘Tyson signed in January. He’s training in Miami for the fight in early November and doesn’t care where it takes place.’
The original agreement stipulated England, putting Wembley Stadium on alert.
But Netflix, the mega-paymasters for the broadcast, have joined their Saudi partners in insisting on New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden so as to maximise US revenue.
Joshua will need at least a two-month training camp for a fight of this magnitude and ideally nine to ten weeks.
It comes after Joshua was given 10 days to agree a deal on August 26 with Warren previously warning: ‘Unless AJ commits by the end of next week I’m afraid this will slip away like so many of those great fights which never happened.’
He added: ‘At some point everyone has to say the most important thing is that it happens. Not this bulls*** about money.
‘That everyone wants the fight. Does AJ really want it? I don’t know. He’s been through that tragedy of the car crash which killed two of his closest friends. Only he knows what he wants.’
Much of the discussions around Wembley centre on a willingness to allow a late start time – and late curfew – to suit the American TV market. Mayor Sadiq Khan this week stated that he is keen to host the fight and find a solution.