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Anthony Joshua’s Double-header with Tyson Fury ‘ Goes for £200m
Anthony Joshua’s highly-anticipated showdown against Tyson Fury could reportedly be inked for next year.
The British heavyweight duo were set to face off this year before a court ruling in the United States ordered The Gypsy King to meet Deontay Wilder in a trilogy bout, which is set to take place next month.
Unified champion Joshua – forced to wait to face Fury as a result – meanwhile faces Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night.
The report adds that estimates suggest the fight could be worth as much as £200million, and that Wembley Stadium – a 90,000-capacity ground – is seen as the only realistic venue in the UK for the clash.
The outlet adds that the other fight in the double-header is increasingly likely to take place in Saudi Arabia.
But while next year’s potential double-header may appear far away in the calendar, it has not stopped the duo taking shots at each other.
Joshua – who with promoter Eddie Hearn were left fuming after Fury cancelled the fights planned for this year – insists he expects there to be further delays to his mouthwatering showdown with Fury.
“He’s someone who pulls out of fights, even with the Wilder situation happening,” Joshua said. “We’ll see him sometime soon. When everybody’s ready, we’ll be here waiting.”
On the prospect of facing Fury next, Joshua added: “You know, what an honour it would be to fight Tyson, get another good fighter on the record, beat him, we move forward. I’d love that opportunity.
“We were close to doing it. We were a couple of weeks away and, boom, it came to an end. We’ll get it on… I’m sure.”
WBC champion Fury then responded on Gary Neville’s Overlap show, accusing Joshua of only fighting rivals who were good ’10 years ago’
“Anthony Joshua’s fought not one heavyweight in his prime,” he said.
“They’re all former good men, back in the early 2000s, late 2000s, but not in 2020-odd. They were good men 10 years ago.”
And while the war of words may continue, both have more pressing concerns however, with Joshua defending his WBA, WBO and IBF world titles in one of the toughest tests of his career against Usyk in north London.
Joshua, 31, is back in the ring for the first time since last December and has been installed as the bookmakers’ favourite to triumph in north London.
But Usyk, an Olympic gold medallist and former cruiserweight champion, is yet to taste defeat as a professional, and Fury’s promoter Frank Warren has predicted an upset if the Ukrainian turns up on Saturday.
Fury recently revealed his dream next five fights, which included a Joshua double-header, after defeating Wilder and then Dillian Whyte in December.
However, Fury insisted he does not think a fight between the pair will ever take place, insisting Joshua and his team knew all about the arbitration case.
“I was never optimistic about AJ happening,” Fury said. “This was always going on in the background and they knew all that.
“Eddie Hearn knew it, Joshua knew it – they all knew it. All of a sudden, it’s my fault because I’m a s***house, please.”
He continued: “I don’t think the fight will happen. We’ve been trying to do this fight since we were 22 years old and I’m now 33.”