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Anthony Joshua could be set for a long-awaited fight this year, even if it is not against Tyson Fury.
On Monday (13 January), Fury announced his retirement from boxing, having gone back on that decision several times in the past.
While many figures in boxing do not believe that Fury will end his career now, on the back of two losses to Oleksandr Usyk, Turki Al-Sheikh is preparing for life after the “Gypsy King”.
The Saudi adviser, boxing’s most influential matchmaker, told Talksport on Thursday (16 January): “I want to see Joshua and [Deontay] Wilder now. If Tyson is not available, why not Joshua and Wilder?”
Joshua, 35, has long been linked to Wilder, 39, with the pair coming extremely close to fighting in recent times. In December 2023, the heavyweights shared a fight card in Saudi Arabia, as Joshua stopped Otto Wallin and Wilder was outpointed by Joseph Parker. If “AJ” and the American had won, they would have faced each other in 2024.
Instead, Joshua went on to knock out former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, while Wilder was stopped by Zhilei Zhang in his next bout. Joshua was also on the wrong end of a KO in 2024, however, as Daniel Dubois retained the IBF title against his fellow Briton in September.
That defeat, coupled with Fury’s second loss to Usyk in December, seemed to line up Joshua and Fury for a long-overdue clash. But Fury, 36, has seemingly scuppered those plans by retiring.
Discussing Fury’s alleged retirement, Al-Sheikh added: “First of all, this kind of decision has to be from the fighters. It must be whatever they are thinking, if they have something to give or not. As a fan of boxing, I don’t like it; we want to see Tyson in more big fights, but I can understand his decision. But over time this decision can change.
“Of course [I will try to convince him to continue boxing]. I will support him and discuss it with him. I will leave him for some time to be with his family, then we can discuss it. But a lot of rumours don’t help us: No one will propose £500m for a fight [against Joshua or anyone], these numbers are incorrect.”
While Joshua vs Fury and Joshua vs Wilder have long escaped boxing fans, Fury has faced Wilder three times. The pair fought to a controversial draw in 2018, before Fury stopped the “Bronze Bomber” in 2020 and 2021.
