Tyson Fury decided to skip Anthony Joshua’s risky comeback fight tonight in Jeddah despite the pair being signed to fight next.
Both men have inked deals with Saudi Arabian officials to fight later this year, but there are still issues to iron out on either end. Dana White’s involvement is a key factor, while they are also divided over where the bout will take place.
Now that Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is finally signed, how excited are you?
Has this super fight dragged on for too long? Comment below how you feel about it.
Fury defeated Mariusz Wach over seven sluggish rounds in a farcical tune-up bout on Friday night that couldn’t even secure a broadcaster. Meanwhile, Joshua had to scrape himself off the canvas in order to score a second round knockout over Kristian Prenga tonight in the Saudi city.
Tyson Fury avoids Anthony Joshua face-off after Kristian Prenga fight
It was expected that Tyson Fury was going to leave the ring on Friday night in Pattaya and hop on a jet to Jeddah so he could be ringside for Anthony Joshua’s comeback fight. The pair have often run into one another, but have never properly faced off for the cameras despite years of rivalry.
And the ‘Gypsy King’ opted against heading to Saudi Arabia, even playing a trick on waiting reporters by having his team arrive with a similar looking man just before the main event. He instead decided to head home to the Isle of Man after spending months in a Thai training camp.
It made for an anti-climactic moment when Joshua called him out on the microphone after his victory in search of a face-off. The pair were close to one back in April when Fury defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov with his rival watching at ringside, but the Watford native decided against it.
“Wait a minute, have we got Tyson Fury in the room actually?” Joshua asked during his post-fight interview. “To more important matters, is he here or not? Fair dues.”
He proceeded to imitate Mike Tyson’s famous ‘rip his heart out’ speech with nods to Alexander The Great. Then, he insisted that he ‘respects everything that [Fury] has done’ but still wants to settle their lengthy feud in the ring.
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