Anthony Joshua accused of bottling Fury fight as AJ ‘chooses not to take bout’

Anthony Joshua says Fury clash is fight ‘boxing world needs’

Frank Warren has accused Anthony Joshua of ‘choosing’ not to fight Tyson Fury in September. Fury claimed on social media that Joshua had been sent a draft contract for a blockbuster heavyweight bout at Wembley Stadium.

Joshua and Fury have both said they want the fight to happen. However, neither party has been able to agree to the terms.

Fury has frequently called Joshua out over social media, including one Instagram story this week in which he claimed a contract had been sent to the 33-year-old’s team. It has been reported that Fury has lined up other opponents, including UFC champion Jon Jones.

Asked to clear up the situation, Fury’s promoter Warren said: “Let me clarify what has actually happened. Last week, a written proposal was sent to Matchroom for AJ to fight Tyson in September. Eddie Hearn came back and spoke to my son George, who said it will take a couple of days to see where they are with it.”

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Speaking to talkSPORT, Warren added: “Couple of days went by and George met yesterday with AJ’s management company. They confirmed that AJ is fighting in Dubai in December, that is his preferred route. There is a space open in August but they basically do not want to do the fight.

“That is what happened. When Tyson said there was a draft contract, what happened is we had prepared a draft contract the last time we had negotiations. So there was nothing really to be concerned about in terms of negotiations – it was just if they wanted the fight or not.

“So the situation is, Tyson is desperate to make the fight happen, as he was against [Oleksandr] Usyk. But AJ has chosen not to take the fight and that is where we are at.”

“The terms were agreed over a fight to take place but the only reason it didn’t take place is because Frank Smith of Matchroom that the fight would never have happened anyway because AJ wasn’t ready,” Warren continued.

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“And more importantly, he didn’t have a trainer. So that is where we are. I don’t know why AJ can’t fight in September and then go and fight Wilder in Dubai afterwards.

“If AJ gets beat by Wilder in December, I don’t think [the fight will happen] because he’d have got beaten by a person Fury has beaten three times. This is the time to make the fight, this is what we should all be focussing on.”

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn claimed Joshua ‘laughed’ at Fury’s recent Instagram post. He told iFL TV: “I spoke to AJ, AJ laughed and said, ‘Isn’t he fighting Jai Opetaia, or Demsey McKean, or Jon Jones?

“I said, ‘No. They’re telling us they want to fight you.’ I’ll go through the process and see how real this is. I believe George Warren.”

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