By: Sean Crose
Quoting sources, Ring Magazine has reported that “a highly anticipated showdown between former heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will headline a Riyadh Season mega-event in 2026.” If true, this fight has been a long time coming. Sure enough it should have gone down years ago, when both towering Englishmen were at their peak. Still, Tyson-Joshua would be nothing short of a superfight, one the world has been long anticipating, at that. Even now, however, there are still obstacles that are keeping the fight from becoming a reality. “Before that collision happens,” The Ring continues, “The Ring has also learned that Fury and Joshua are slated to see action in separate fights as part of next year’s Riyadh Season.”
Joshua, of course, is facing Jake Paul in a massive novelty fight next week, before the start of the new year. That means both he and Fury will be signing to square off with different opponents besides each other next year, should the deal be signed. According to ESPN “they (Joshua and Fury) must come through their respective fights early next year to keep the plan in motion for their hugely anticipated collision.” A Joshua-Fury fight was supposed to have gone down a few years back, but Joshua ended up suffering his first defeat at the gloved fists of Oleksandr Usyk before hand.
In truth, Usyk has defeated both Joshua and Fury on two occasions apiece. That makes the Ukrainian slugger the unquestioned king of the heavyweight era. Sure enough, Usyk wants to fight Deontay Wilder, the only high level heavyweight peer Usyk has yet to face. Should be best Wilder, Usyk will have defeated all the big heavyweight names of his era. No small thing. Yet Joshua and Fury are proving that a loss, even numerous losses, aren’t deal breakers. Each man may be heading to the paycheck of a career provided he agrees to face the other.
The question now is will this battle, which people have been hoping for roughly a decade now, actually get signed this time? They’ve been down this road before, Fury and Joshua, and yet they still haven’t entered the ring to do battle. This is a fight that may well lose relevance if it continues to keep being kicked down the road. Both Fury and Joshua are legends in their own rights, but when it comes to boxing, the clock never stops ticking.
