By: Sean Crose
Anthony Joshua has agreed to terms for a massive heavyweight title fight on December 3 with Tyson Fury. “Joshua-Fury Update:” 258MGT tweeted Tuesday morning, “258 and @MatchroomBoxing can confirm, on behalf of @anthonyjoshua, that we accept all terms presented to us by Fury’s team for a fight on December 3 on last Friday. Due to the death of the Queen, it was agreed to suspend all communication. We are waiting for a response.” If Team Fury gives the green light (unsurprisingly since they submitted the original offer for a Fury-Joshua matchup), negotiations will have moved forward at an alarming speed, especially in this age of big-fight negotiations at a snail’s pace.
Fury, the WBC and lineal heavyweight champion, was originally looking to secure a bout with Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight title. Team Usyk wasn’t interested in fighting so soon after a recent big fight, so Fury surprised a lot of people by publicly reaching out to Joshua for a fight. Team Joshua nodded approvingly at the team Fury sent them as a first offer and now, weeks later, the long-awaited showdown between the two popular and imposing Englishmen seems about to become a reality.
The irony, of course, is the fact that it was Joshua that Usyk fought last month. The Ukrainian won his second straight battle against the Londoner that night, denying Joshua the chance to win back the belts that Usyk had won from him nearly a year earlier. Team Joshua, however, is willing to give up the rest period a fighter usually gets after a massive fight to jump into the fire against Fury this December. It could be a stroke of genius. Or madness. Or maybe both. Either way, thanks to Joshua and his team for accepting such an unusual offer.
As for Fury, he has yet to respond to Joshua’s reported acceptance of the offer (one never knows the finer details in these situations), but if he does, he will clearly be the heavy favorite to enter the ring this December. The man is not only undefeated, but has outpointed Deontay Wilder two out of three times (their first battle of his ended in a draw) and most recently knocked Dillian Whyte into near oblivion with a thunderous fight finish last spring. Joshua, however, is clearly determined. Coupled with the fact that Fury is very different physically and stylistically from Usyk, it won’t be that easy to write Joshua off before the fight. Joshua certainly has power, after all, as well as incredible drive. A December 3 matchup with Fury would itself be one of the biggest upsets of the year. A Joshua victory would be another.
