By Barry Holbrook: Tyson Fury promoter Frank Warren says he has sent an official offer to Anthony Joshua and his team for a November fight in the UK. Warren says it’s a “very fair” offer and that Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) should “grab this with both hands.”
The November date for the fight will make it difficult for Joshua, as he recently fought IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on August 20, losing a 12-round unanimous decision. Basically, that gives Joshua only two months to prepare for the fight.
For Joshua to accept the offer of a fight in November, it would mean he would need to start training camp immediately to prepare for the ‘Battle of Britain’ against WBC champion Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) in solo two months.
You have to believe that the November date favors Fury a lot, as he hasn’t fought since last April when he defeated Dillian Whyte in six rounds.
Unlike Joshua, Fury did not receive any punishment in his fight with Whyte. Joshua took a lot of punches in his loss to Usyk last August, and it was a tough fight for him.
“We will send them a written offer today,” Frank Warren told talkSPORT. “My son George spoke to Eddie Hearn yesterday. I think the terms that we are going to present are very, very fair.
“He’s willing to make that voluntary defense, so we’ll send the offer today, and then they’ll have to look at it and decide if they want to grab this with both hands.”
Since this is a voluntary defense by Fury, it could make this fight difficult to make. Despite losing three of his last five fights, Joshua remains immensely popular, and possibly even more so than Fury.
“In the UK and hopefully in November, that’s what we’re looking at,” Warren said of when and where the potential Joshua-Fury fight will take place.
It would make more sense to put on the Joshua vs. Fury in the Middle East because he can potentially make more money there.
It will be interesting to see if Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn accept the fight. I know Joshua mentioned that he wanted to return to the ring potentially in November, but he was probably thinking about facing a tune-up level opponent, not the undefeated Fury.
