ANTHONY JOSHUA and Tyson Fury WILL trade blows before they both hang up their gloves, it’s been claimed.
British boxing fans have been crying out for the pair to fight one another for the best part of a decade.
GETTYTyson Fury offered Anthony Joshua a world title lifeline last year but the fight didn’t come to fruition[/caption]
GETTYGypsy King Fury has seemingly ruled out ever fighting AJ[/caption]
SPLASHBut Tony Bellew reckons the pair will trade blows before it’s all said and done[/caption]
The duo were on course to throw down before Deontay Wilder threw a spanner into the works by winning his arbitration for a trilogy fight with Fury, which took place in October 2021.
A shock December dust-up was on the cards last year after Fury offered AJ a shock world title lifeline but the fight failed to come to fruition.
WBC heavyweight king Fury, 34, is seemingly no longer interested in the historic Battle of Britain, but Tony Bellew reckons the pair will share the ring before it’s all said and done.
The Bomber told Virgin Radio: “Money determines everything in boxing and that’s probably the richest fight in boxing, so, of course, we’ll see it eventually.
“When both guys have got nowhere left to run, that’s when we’ll see it.”
Former two-time unified heavyweight champion Joshua is currently out of the world title picture following consecutive losses to pound-for-pound king Oleksandr Usyk
AJ will hit the comeback trail in April in a must-win showdown with Jermaine Franklin.
Fury, meanwhile, is currently gearing up for an undisputed heavyweight title fight with AJ conqueror Usyk.
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Negotiations over the historic fight recently stalled, although Usyk’s promoter jetted into London this week to try and finalise the deal.
Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren told talkSPORT his week: “We are very, very close to getting this [Fury vs Usyk] done. Very, very close.
“His people are coming in tomorrow and I’m hoping we’re gonna get some news for everybody. We’re close to getting it done.
“Tomorrow we’re gonna meet up. Alex Krassyuk, his promoter, is coming to the Arsenal vs Man City game with me.
“I’m hoping that if I can get enough wine down him that we can do the deal.
“We’re meeting him to get an agreement on the various scenarios to make it happen.
“There’s a few more hurdles for both sides to get over. They’re not [insurmountable], not at all. Location is the main thing.
“If we go abroad, then you go there for a premium, that’s the reason you do it.
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“If not, then we get down to the reality of what it’ll be at Wembley where the numbers are what they are.
“We broke the box office record with the fight vs Dillian Whyte last April.
“If we get this one on, I think that will break that record.
“I think it’s well in excess of a million [UK PPV] buys, one-and-a-half million.
“It’s not like we’ve got to go and sell Usyk, he’s beaten Anthony Joshua twice, the public know who he is. It’s not a tough sell at all.
“We’ve got a pencil on it [April 29] for obvious reasons, just in case, we’ve gotta make sure we’ve got some insurance. So there’s a pencil on the date.
“In a perverse way, I would like to see it at Wembley because I’d like to see all the records broken and obviously see the fight in the UK.
“But from the boxers and their bank managers’ point of view, they would like to maximise what they can earn for an historic fight.”