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Nick Parkinson
Anthony Joshua is considering a 40-60% offer to fight WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury later this year, sources have told ESPN, with Fury taking the bigger share of the revenue.
Fury has shifted his stance from insisting he was retired over the summer, to then claiming he was ready to fight WBA-IBF-WBO world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk following the Ukrainian’s points win over Joshua on Aug. 20.
But Usyk has ruled himself out of fighting again in 2022 due to injury, which left Fury searching for an opponent, and he offered Joshua the fight via social media Monday. Joshua responded by claiming via social media that he would be ready to fight in December.
Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren said Fury has thrown English rival Joshua “a lifeline” with the offer to fight for his version of the world title after losing his last two fights on points to Usyk.
Warren told the BBC on Wednesday: “We have put a formal offer through to Matchroom [Joshua’s promoter] and got a reply late last night and everyone seems on the same page, we just have to work on the date. Tyson is insisting that he fights early in November because he feels he will beat Joshua and he then wants to fight Usyk in the unification fight.
“The reason it has come about is because Usyk has said he is not fit enough to fight until February or March. We will see what happens in the next few days. It’s Tyson’s decision, he has given AJ a bit of a lifeline to fight for a title rather than go through a load of warm-ups and try to reestablish himself.
“Tyson wants to fight, we looked at a couple of guys, it’s been frustrating because we thought he would be fighting Usyk just before Christmas. Tyson doesn’t shirk or avoid anyone.
“[The 60-40 split in Fury’s favour is] very, very fair. AJ should take it. It would have to be in a stadium and we are looking at two options.”
The only UK stadium capable of holding a boxing event in November or December is the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, because it has a retractable roof. Outdoor stadiums in the UK are not used to stage boxing events in the winter months due to the weather.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas would also be an option to stage the fight in the United States, while Saudi Arabia has also staged big world title fights recently.
Another obstacle is the television rights, as Fury is shown by BT Sports Box Office in the U.K., while Joshua has a deal with streaming service DAZN.
Initially, it was hoped Fury would face Usyk in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 17.
Fury and Joshua both verbally agreed to face each other in 2020, when promoters were claiming the fight was valued at £200 million. Fury then went in another direction to fight Deontay Wilder, while Joshua lost his three belts to Usyk.