Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight announcement could come tonight | Boxing | Sport

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could finally confirm their long-awaited bout TONIGHT after a decade of anticipation. The two heavyweights have been on a collision course for 10 years, yet for various reasons, a fight has consistently failed to materialise. Both men had agreed to meet five years ago, but a legal ruling forced Fury into a third clash with Deontay Wilder.

With Fury set to return to the ring tonight against Arslanbek Makhmudov, a blockbuster announcement could follow the final bell. Saudi Arabian boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh said: “Today we have a big surprise, I hope that we are going to announce the biggest fight in the history of England.” This could suggest Joshua has decided against a warm-up bout this summer, with Wilder amongst the potential alternatives.

Joshua and Fury are being lined up for a much-anticipated showdown as part of Riyadh Season in 2026, with a September date in London currently under consideration. Wembley Stadium has been earmarked to stage the monumental spectacle – however, remarkable recent reports have emerged suggesting Croke Park in Dublin could throw a real spanner in the works.

A potential showdown between the two fighters is being touted for July – with promoter Eddie Hearn backing those claims, while also revealing that a clash between Joshua and Fury could follow.

Speaking on Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel, Hearn said: “We are in active negotiations now with Turki Alalshikh and Dr. Rakan Alharthy and Sela. We had the fight virtually agreed before the terrible accident and we have had to obviously jig timings around, but the same conversations are being closed off.

“We plan to fight in July, then we want to fight Tyson Fury. And I said yesterday, we will fight Deontay Wilder in July. Let’s do Wilder then Fury. Right now, I have never seen ‘AJ’ so fired up for fights. It’s just a shift in mindset where… the training camp with (Oleksandr) Usyk, everything that has happened… he is ready to go.

“I mean, so much so, he went last week to support Chisora. He is going on Saturday to watch Tyson Fury. This is very un-AJ like. Normally, he is ‘I’ll watch it on the sofa. Let these guys do the work.’ But he is actively chasing these fights.”

Fury remains keener than ever to take on Joshua, yet will only address his rival once Saturday night is out of the way. “I don’t want to mention names when I’ve got a dangerous fighter in front of me,” Fury said on Thursday. “The rest can get a hiding, but I need to give Makhmudov a hiding first.

“Like I said when Daniel Dubois was fighting Anthony Joshua (in 2024), everybody said, and all the boxing brains said, ‘AJ will knock him out inside three rounds,’ and they were overlooking him. ‘Are you going to fight Tyson next?’

“And I said, ‘You better put some respect on Dubois’ name, because he’s going to chin him,’ and that’s what happened. So, I won’t fall down that same hurdle and trap.” He went on to say: “As far as I am concerned, I will focus on this big Russian fella, then Anthony Joshua and maybe a third fight (with Oleksandr Usyk).”