Tyson Fury has reportedly called off his proposed fight with fellow Brit Anthony Joshua after no contracts were signed before the deadline issued by the WBC Heavyweight champion expired.
Fury had challenged Joshua earlier this month to a ‘Battle of Britain’ saying he would be willing to come out of retirement to defend his title in December, a challenge which Joshua had accepted.
“It’s official, D-Day has come and gone,” Fury said on social media. “No contract has been signed. It’s officially over for Joshua. He’s now out in the cold… Forget about it.
“I always knew it. Regardless of what… you say now, I don’t really care. Good luck with your career and your life. End of.”
Joshua’s management company and promoter Matchroom Boxing had formally issued a statement saying they had agreed to “all terms presented to us by Fury’s team” but agreed to halt the negotiations after the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Fury had set a deadline for Joshua’s camp to sign the contract knowing well that he has a plethora of options if things fall through.
In hindsight, a potential fight with the reigning WBC champion Tyson Fury being called off may not be the worst thing for Anthony Joshua at the moment as the former unified heavyweight champion is coming off a second detrimental loss to Oleksander Usyk, failing to regain the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO championship belts.
With the 32-year-old out of the picture, Fury may well shift focus to facing Usuk for the undisputed crown or face a tuneup fight with a lower-ranked opponent.
