Anthony Joshua has “accepted all terms” to fight Tyson Fury in December, his team have confirmed.
Following Joshua’s second straight decision defeat by Oleksandr Usyk last month, a result that saw the Brit fail to regain the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles from the Ukrainian, an all-British clash between Joshua and Fury looked to have slipped away for good.
However, last week, WBC champion Fury offered the 32-year-old a shot at his belt with Joshua agreeing to a 60-40 purse split in his opponent’s favour as talks advanced throughout the week.
Negotiations have been placed on hold following the Queen’s death with Joshua’s camp awaiting a response from his rival.
A statement from his management company on Tuesday read: “258 and @MatchroomBoxing can confirm, on behalf of @anthonyjoshua, that we accepted all terms presented to us by Fury’s team for a fight Dec 3rd last Friday.
“Due to the Queen’s passing, it was agreed to halt all communication. We are awaiting a response.”
The Queen’s death on Thursday led to the cancellation of many sporting events in the UK, including all boxing over the weekend.
“We’ve put it all on hold at the moment,” Fury’s UK promoter Frank Warren told Talksport on Sunday. “It wasn’t appropriate obviously, that’s how we feel.
“We’ve put it on hold and will pick up on it in the next week or so. From our perspective, we don’t feel it is appropriate out of respect for what has happened.”
Fury last fought in April, knocking out Dillian Whyte at London’s Wembley Stadium to retain the WBC heavyweight title.
Fury then claimed to be retired over the following months before informing the WBC in August that he intends to continue boxing.
The unbeaten Briton has pressured compatriot Joshua to accept a late November or early December fight.
Joshua would enter such a bout on the back of two straight losses, both having come against Usyk, who dethroned Joshua in September 2021 before retaining his belts against him this August.
