Anthony Joshua will have to wait even longer to finally fight Tyson Fury, no matter the result of this weekend’s undisputed heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk. Fury faces Usyk on May 18 in Saudi Arabia for all four belts, and they will face each other again before the year is out.
Joshua, 34, last fought against Francis Ngannou in March, knocking out the former UFC champion inside two rounds. Fury and Usyk were supposed to have already fought by then, but a cut suffered by the former in sparring postponed their bout by three months.
That also delays the immediate rematch they are committed to in the fight contract. The deal had a tentative date of December 23 for their first fight, but with Fury fighting Ngannou less than two months earlier, it got pushed into 2024.
As such, Usyk has not fought since late August, when retaining his titles against Daniel Dubois in Poland. Now, further clarity of the second fight has come during fight week from the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh.
ESPN reports that Alalshikh told them late last month that the rematch would be on 12/13 October. Joshua is due to return three weeks earlier, at Wembley Stadium on 20/21 September.
That should be a world heavyweight title fight, as Fury and Usyk rematching will lead to the IBF stripping the winner of their belt before any rematch. The expectation is that Joshua will face the winner of Filip Hrgovic versus Dubois, who will be the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger.
Joshua discussed those details during a press event at the Monaco E-Prix last month. “Whenever they tell me there’s a date, you know I’ll be ready 100 per cent,” he told talkSPORT.
“It’s gonna be in London, Wembley Stadium. This is what I’m being told. If that’s what they say, they normally back their word, so let’s go with that. Wembley, September 20 or 21.”
Joshua then expounded on potential opponents: “On 1 June, in Saudi Arabia, they’ve got the five vs five card. You’ve got Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois, and you’ve got Zhilei Zhang vs Deontay Wilder. So providing one of those looks good – the one who looks the best.”
Alalshikh is aiming for Joshua to fight Fury in the latter next fight after the Usyk rematch. The target is late March, regardless of who becomes the undisputed champion.