Tyson Fury has claimed that he will not be fighting heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua in December after his fellow Brit failed to sign the contract for the proposed bout before 5pm on Monday.
Fury has become frustrated with what he perceives to be a lack of movement from Joshua’s camp and set the take-it-or-leave-it 5pm deadline to the Watford-born fighter.
He has now taken to Instagram to confirm that he is yet to receive Joshua’s signature, and will be moving on to fight somebody else.
Tyson Fury has claimed his proposed fight with Anthony Joshua will no longer take place
‘Well guys, it’s official: D-Day has come and gone,’ Fury said on social media.
‘It’s gone past 5 o’clock [on] Monday, no contract has been signed. It’s officially over for Joshua. He is now out in the cold with the wolfpack. Forget about it.
‘Idiot, coward, s***house bodybuilder. Always knew it, always knew you didn’t have the minerals to fight the Gypsy King.
‘Regardless of what the f*** you say now, I don’t really care. Good luck with your career and your life. End of.’
Earlier in the day, Fury’s promoter Frank Warren was still confident that Joshua would meet Fury’s deadline and agree to the terms of their blockbuster fight as he felt that negotiations were on the right track, but it now seems that Fury will seek an alternative opponent.
Frank Warren was previously confident that Joshua would meet Fury’s 5pm deadline
‘The only person who can stop this fight from happening, to be quite honest, is Anthony Joshua,’ Warren told talkSPORT.
‘We’ve given them nearly everything they wanted, over and above for a guy who is coming off of two losses. So, let’s just get it on. Or if you don’t want the fight, just say so and we can move on. We want it.
‘On Monday, I think we’re going to have a meeting and see where it goes from there. We want the fight. I want the fight. I desperately want to get that fight on. Tyson wants it, that’s why such a generous offer was made.’
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn was critical of the offer sent to them, saying it was ‘all over the place’ but Warren has since addressed any lingering issues with his team ahead of the final negotiations.
Joshua says the contract is currently with his legal team but expects to agree to the terms
Fury has said he will be fighting on December 3, and is now set to fight an alternative opponent
‘Hopefully we’ll get it over the line. I’m optimistic at the moment because we’ve satisfied every one of the things that they brought up,’ Warren added.
‘For me, it’s trivial stuff. All of that, for example, the budget for the undercard, or looking at contracts. They can be involved in every aspect of the show, we haven’t got a problem with that.
‘As I say, there’s a meeting on Monday and hopefully we can get it over the line.’
Joshua has appeared calm in the face of Fury’s demands on social media, and insisted on Sunday that he would sign for the huge domestic clash.
‘I’ve been signing contracts for years,’ said Joshua.
‘It ain’t in my hands, it’s with a legal team. That’s why you hire lawyers.
Joshua suffered his second-successive loss against Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia last month
Mahmoud Charr is waiting in the wings for a shot at Fury now that the Joshua fight is off
‘If you know the history of boxing, you make sure you get your legal terms right. That’s why you’ve got good management and good lawyers.
‘So, of course, I’m going to sign the contract. It’s just with some lawyers at the minute.’
Meanwhile, Fury has a back up plan already in place and looks set to move on to this now that his fight with Joshua won’t be going ahead.
Mahmoud Charr, who has only fought twice since 2017, has taken to social media to call Fury out and could be next in line for a shot at the WBC title in December.
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