Tyson Fury vows to SMASH Anthony Joshua inside three rounds after talking tactics with his trainer SugarHill Steward over the phone… as heavyweights close in on huge two-fight deal to finally meet in the ring
- Tyson Fury’s unification bout with Anthony Joshua is close to being agreed
- WBO have handled the issue of Joshua’s mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk
- Fury posted a video on Thursday saying he had just talked to SugarHill Steward
- The Gypsy King boldly insisted he would ‘smash’ Joshua inside three rounds
Tyson Fury has promised to ‘smash’ Anthony Joshua inside three rounds when the British pair eventually clash in their heavyweight unification clash.
The all-British mega-bout is close to being agreed after the WBO stepped in to handle the issue of the mandatory challenger to Joshua’s WBO belt Oleksandr Usyk.
And Fury, who is unbeaten and last fought in February 2020 with a devastating knockout win against Deontay Wilder, revealed on Thursday afternoon that he had just talked tactics with trainer SugarHill Steward on the phone ahead of the potential fight.
Tyson Fury posted a video on Thursday claiming he would ‘smash’ Anthony Joshua in the ring
‘Tyson Fury, the Gypsy King, the heavyweight champion of the world. Yes!’ he began, in a video on his Twitter page.
‘Just got off the phone from Sugarhill Steward in America – we are going to smash AJ!
‘One round, two rounds, three rounds, done! Can’t wait!’
A two-fight ‘financial agreement’ was reached last year for Joshua and Fury to collide in the ring in 2021.
A potential obstacle was Usyk’s status as a mandatory challenger to Joshua but early negotiations have now taken place for the Ukrainian to fight London-born Joe Joyce instead, with the Brit currently ranked as the No 2 contender by the WBO.
The issue posed by mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk is close to being resolved
They would be fighting for an ‘interim’ title fight which would allow the winner a No 1 contender’s spot down the road.
Should a fight with Joyce go ahead, it would pave the way for Joshua and Fury to meet in a spectacular two-fight showdown later on this year.
It would also mean that Fury’s WBC belt and Joshua’s IBF, WBA and WBO titles would be on the line all at once, with the winner being crowned as the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis.
Meanwhile, AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed this week a fight between the two Brits could be broadcasted on multiple channels.
Hearn said the event organisers are looking for the broadcasters to agree on a compromise over the TV rights to finalise details of the two-fight deal.
Hearn doesn’t believe it will be ‘difficult’ to come to an agreement as he claims a collaboration between Sky Sports, BT Sport, ESPN and DAZN could provide a ‘solution for everybody’.
Eddie Hearn has revealed Joshua vs Fury could be broadcast by various TV networks
‘The two broadcast issues are DAZN and ESPN in America – AJ has a matching rights deal with DAZN and Fury has an exclusive deal with ESPN,’ Hearn explained.
‘When you flip that in the UK, AJ has an exclusive deal with Sky and Fury has matching rights with BT.
‘Is there a deal where all four of those parties can carry broadcast of the fight? Yeah, I believe there is.’