The scene should have been simple: a dominant win, a triumphant lap of the ring, and another step toward the one fight everyone insists must happen.
Instead, what unfolded after Tyson Fury’s victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov felt like a moment suspended somewhere between theatre and stalemate – a public display of a private negotiation that is still, despite confident proclamations, unresolved.
Fury did his part. He won and then he called out Anthony Joshua with the kind of blunt insistence that has defined this rivalry for years.
I was ringside and to my surprise, Joshua didn’t move. He sat, staring, absorbing, perhaps calculating. When Turki Alalshikh urged him and Eddie Hearn into the ring, they declined – a small but telling act that undercut the narrative that everything was already signed, sealed and inevitable. Because behind the spectacle, the truth is more complicated.
I can confirm that Fury has done everything required of him. His contract is signed. His financial terms are agreed. The deal has been completed through the Saudi structure, not a traditional boxing agreement, but one tailored to Alalshikh’s model.
There are no purse bids, no shared negotiation tables. Each fighter works their side independently, agreeing their own terms without visibility into the other’s deal.
Fury has signed not just for Joshua, but beyond him. A three-fight agreement is in place, with one more bout lined up after Joshua, a fight he wants to be against Oleksandr Usyk.
The proposed fight between Fury and AJ is said to be tied to Netflix, despite Joshua’s long-term deal with DAZN.
Joshua, however, has not signed. And no venues have been explored, no locations locked in, because the focus remains on securing that final agreement. Until then, everything else is noise.
Joshua’s hesitation is not without context. He has spoken about needing time to ‘get himself right’ following last’s year’s fatal car crash in Nigeria.
When asked whether AJ deserved more grace and time due to the tragedy he faced outside of the ring, Fury said: ‘He’s had his problems but we’ve all had our problems.
‘God knows I’ve had problem myself. It’s attempted to kill myself before. I’ve been through it. I’ve been up and down. I’ve been one step outside of the mental institution. So, we’ve all had problems and that’s life unfortunately.
‘If you’re in this game, you’re either a boxer or you’re not. Problem is, this is heavyweight boxing and when you take interim fights you can get chinned by anybody.
‘It’s not like we’re two flyweights and I’m that much better than everyone else. This isn’t tip tap. Even a journeyman can knock a heavyweight out because they’ve got power in this division.
‘Let’s say he did fight (Deontay) Wilder, and Wilder is finished anyway, but let’s just say Wilder detonated on him, does anyone want to see Wilder and me again? God knows I don’t. I’m not interested. It is what it is. Let’s get the fight on or let’s not.
‘If it ain’t Anthony Joshua next, I’m not interested in boxing. I’ll eat 1,000 Easter eggs and go up to 35 stone. I’m out. It’s either him or I’m gone again. I’m not interested.
‘I’m not interested in up and comers, I’m not interested in someone trying to prove a point over me. I don’t care about rankings. I don’t care about belts. I only care now about AJ.’