Tyson Fury could also take warm-up bout before Anthony Joshua fight | 'Tyson wants to keep busy,' says Frank~Warren
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are finally set to box later this year; but Joshua will first have a warm-up fight in July and Fury could elect to have an interim bout of his own too; Fury's promoter Frank~Warren said: "Tyson wants to keep busy. Tyson has to have focus in his life"
Tyson Fury could also take an interim bout before boxing Anthony Joshua later this year.
The Fury vs AJ showdown is set to take place before the end of 2026 but first Joshua will have a warm-up contest on July 25 in Riyadh.
Fury, who returned to boxing earlier this month after a year-long retirement, will also consider having his own warm-up too, potentially also in July.
His promoter Frank~Warren told Sky Sports: "He may decide he wants to do another fight."
Warren explained: "It wouldn't surprise me. Tyson wants to keep busy. Tyson has to have focus in his life as far as boxing is concerned. It's having a date. And at this moment there is no date [for the Joshua fight] because obviously AJ's fighting in July."
Joshua losing to Kristian Prenga, the little known Albanian he will fight in the summer, could be a problem for the Fury fight going ahead.
"We'll have to talk about that afterwards. Let's hope he doesn't lose," Warren said. "If he ain't going to beat this fellow he ain't going to beat Tyson that's for sure. He's got to go out and do a job.
"This fight is here for him to win and get all the cobwebs out and some of the mental problems that he may have, or not, from that terrible tragedy of losing his two friends in that car crash. So that's what it's all about."
Assuming Joshua wins this bout and Fury gets through any potential warm-up of his own, a date still needs to be set for their heavyweight super-fight. That would likely be in October or November.
"AJ's fighting on the 25th of July, he'll want to go back into camp, that's the sort of timescale," Warren said. "Tyson would prefer to do it as soon as possible. He'd prefer to do it in August/September."
The venue too still has to be confirmed, but Wembley Stadium would be a natural home for a fight of this magnitude. "We'd all like it in the UK but we'll see," Warren said.
He does not, though, anticipate any arguments over who is the A-side or the B-side, who ringwalks first or second, derailing the fight.
"That's got to be all decided but I've got to be honest, for me, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest because, for me, there's only one winner," Warren said backing his fighter, Fury.
"The money they're getting paid, they can skip in, do cartwheels into the ring. They're receiving huge purses for this. It's all about box office and demand and thanks to the interest of the Saudis and them financing it.
"It's huge money."
A curveball could be the unexpected stipulation that Saudi financier Turki Alalshikh wants Dua Lipa to perform at the event. But Warren does not think that will be a roadblock to the Fury vs Joshua showdown eventually happening.
"I doubt it very much," he said.
Warren concluded: "Hopefully there's going to be no hiccups and we'll get it.
"It's the big fight. It's finally on and it'll capture everybody's imagination."
