Head of Matchroom Boxing, Barry Hearn, says that Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua will happen at the ‘tail-end of 2023’. Fury is currently in negotiations to stage the first undisputed heavyweight unification clash of the four-belt era with Oleksandr Usyk next year.
And Hearn believes that providing Fury wins the four-belt shoot-out then British boxing fans will finally be treated to the long-awaited grudge match with AJ for all the marbles.
“Obviously Tyson Fury is the No 1 in the world. He’s going to take all the beating, but I think he is quite close to getting the Usyk fight signed off. That’s a hell of a good fight, and a dangerous one,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think Usyk is the No 1 heavyweight in the world. Tyson will disagree with me. Let’s go and see. The fight we all want to see eventually is AJ against Fury. You’ll get stories, Tyson will say the fight is never going to happen, Joshua will say he’d rather fight Dillian Whyte. Forget all of that.
“I don’t think it will happen,” Fury told iFL TV. “If it was going to happen it would have happened in December when Chisora maned up and stepped up to the plate.
“I can guarantee you will not see it, one hundred percent not happening like you didn’t see Calzaghe and Froch. But I’m going to take on the man that has beaten him twice so it’s irrelevant. I’m going to knock out the guy that beat him twice.”
He added: “Me and Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world [is bigger], two undefeated champions not a man who has been beaten in three of his last five fights. He doesn’t bring anything to the table. In terms of money, I’ll earn double the amount from Usyk than from the other sausage.”
Joshua is expected to return to the ring in early 2023 against a currently undisclosed opponent. Dillian Whyte is understood to be the frontrunner with Otto Wallin, Zhang Zhilei, Filip Hrgovic, and Demsey McKean all being mentioned in the same discussion.