‘It’s the fight that people want to see’ Tyson Fury says he ‘needs’ to fight Anthony Joshua before he retires

Tyson Fury has once again reiterated his desire to fight fellow Brit Anthony Joshua before he retires. The two almost reached a deal to fight in 2022, but negotiations between both their respective teams broke down in September.

Fury then struck a deal to fight Derek Chisora, with the two set to meet in London on December 3. Next month’s head-to-head will be the third time the two men will have fought one another, the first and second fights occurred in 2011 and 2014 respectively with Fury winning both..

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Fury said: “I don’t think I can retire today because I need that Joshua fight. We have been trying to make that fight for years. It’s the fight that people want to see. It’s the fight that I want to see as a boxing fan.”

Joshua’s stock has taken a massive hit since his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019. He has also suffered back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, leaving his record at 24 wins and three losses.

Shortly after Joshua’s second defeat against the Ukrainian, Fury took to social media to challenge Joshua to a fight. Joshua accepted, saying he would be willing to face off against Fury in December.

Despite a whole host of potential challengers emerging to face Fury in 2023, Joshua remains a priority fight for him. He said “For the last four or five years, there has been this three-headed monster: me, Wilder, Joshua.

"Joshua and Wilder have been slain, and I’m the last one standing. All of a sudden, you’ve got some new people coming up now - Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois, Usyk’s gate-crashed the party.

"Now there’s a load of new blood that wasn’t there five years ago and it’s like, ‘can you beat this person? But I think it would be an absolute dying travesty if me and Joshua didn’t fight in this era."