Anthony Joshua is making it clear as day that he’s all aboard for a fight against longtime adversary Tyson Fury.
The all-British heavyweight battle has been in demand for the last decade as Joshua and Fury both enjoyed reigns as heavyweight champions.
With Oleksandr Usyk currently enjoying a stronghold over the division as The Ring Magazine, WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion, all paths for Joshua and Fury finally lead them toward facing each other as they look to resurrect their careers and cash in on the highly desired and lucrative cash.
“[The Fury fight is] a fight that I want to see, because I’m a fan of boxing, so I want to get that out of the way,” Joshua said during The Ring Awards on Saturday in London.
“I ain’t got many years ahead of me. I've had more years behind me than I have in front of me. So I want to leave the game with a bang and make an impact: be outlandish, great character, have fun with it while we’re doing it and go for the big fights, and Tyson Fury is one of them.
“Every time I see people, they’re saying, 'When are you fighting Fury?' The Irish community, the English community, the Nigerian community – everyone is asking me the same question. So as a fighter it’s up to me to deliver. It has to happen this year … I think we can definitely make this fight happen.
"These conversations [we're having now] start the ball rolling if I am honest. If we are not talking about Tyson Fury, you know it's not happening. I saw that Turki Alalshikh did an interview recently and he mentioned that it's a fight he wants to see. We're talking about it, so I’m sure that it will happen."
Earlier this month, Joshua, 35, stressed that “time is of the essence” to get a deal done with the 36-year-old Fury.
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) is coming off a crushing fifth-round KO loss to Daniel Dubois in September for the IBF title. The defeat came after the former two-time champion strung four straight wins together following back-to-back losses to Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) didn’t fare well against Usyk either, losing twice to the Ukrainian in 2024.
"After my last fight, I took some time off,” said Joshua. “I let my body heal. I declined some business opportunities so I could focus on the sport ... we're back again waiting for a big 2025. I feel good.”
Manouk Akopyan is a lead writer for Ring Magazine. Follow him on X and Instagram.