Fury slams AJ or Usyk rumble claim as ‘rubbish’
Fury has rubbished claims he is in line for a sensational return to the boxing ring later this year to take on the winner of Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight title.
Following the 33-year-old’s TKO victory over Dillian Whyte back in April, Fury vowed to step away from the world of professional boxing after a 20-year career to spend more time with his family.
It was claimed this weekend that the Gypsy King is in talks to fight the winner of Joshua v Usyk, whose much-delayed rematch is set to take place on August 20 in Saudi Arabia, after the Ukrainian comfortably beat the 32-year-old back in September 2021 in Joshua’s last professional outing.
A formal announcement of the hundred-million-dollar plus deal for Joshua v Usyk II is expected to be made early next week.
The Middle East Kingdom is poised to invest even more extravagantly in the Gypsy King’s return from his brief retirement for a showcase which they regard as ‘the next Rumble In The Jungle.’
The announcement puts to bed speculation that Joshua would be hanging up his gloves after losing the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles in a one-sided bout at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
A potential fight date is reportedly being pitched to take place between the World Cup semi-finals and Final in Qatar, probably on December 17, while tens of thousands of football fans are in the Middle East.
But while that date has been proTYSON posed, Fury took to social media to rule out any speculation of a fight.
The Gypsy King wrote on Twitter: “This is all news to me! Biggest load of rubbish ever!”
Despite Fury rubbishing claims of a potential fight, the proposed deal that is set to surpass the Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquio fight as the most expensive boxing match in history, an agreement has been brokered for the Saudi government by long-time boxing fan Prince Khaled Bin Abdulaziz through Skill Challenge Entertainment, who have secured the global rights for Joshua v
Usyk. The enormous scale of the money added to Prince Khaled’s friendship with Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, made the Andy Ruiz and Usyk rematches possible.
A similar relationship with Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, has helped engage the Gypsy King in discussions to put a predictable end to premature retirement following his recent spectacular victory over Dillian Whyte at Wembley.
The proposed date for the JoshuaUsyk rematch was originally set for April, but was changed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.