Anthony Joshua is just a contract signature away from securing his huge British showdown with Tyson Fury.
Fury was expected to come out of retirement and face Joshua's conqueror Usyk in an undisputed bout at the end of this year, but plans have been shelved for now after Usyk opted to take time away from competition. Instead Fury elected to continue his U-turn plot and offered 'AJ' the chance to challenge for his WBC title despite having twice been beaten by Usyk.
Joshua accepted the deal with the terms understood to be on a 60/40 purse split in Fury's favour, with the pair set to touch gloves at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 3. And now the champion's promoter Frank Warren has revealed the contract was sent as of this morning, and is excited at the prospect of finally getting the fight over the line.
Warren wrote in his Daily Star column: "The contracts have been sent to Anthony Joshua ’s team. They will have arrived on Friday morning. Now we wait for them to go through them and sign so we can get one of British boxing’s biggest events on. All our side is on board for this fight. Tyson Fury is eager for it as he showed last week by calling out his fellow Brit.
"Since the passing of the Queen, Tyson has been respectful and kept his counsel while we work on the deal behind the scenes. The next step was sending over the contracts which we promised Joshua would arrive soon. I don’t anticipate there will be any problems. We all want this fight to happen.
"There is a will on both sides to make sure it does which is great. This will be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history if not the biggest. The WBC title will be on the line but this will be as much about the bragging rights between the pair. For years we’ve wanted this to happen and we were close before but now seems to be the time it will finally happen."
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Joshua had been expected to return to the ring in December against a top 15 contender to begin rebuilding his confidence following his second defeat by Usyk. However he will have a unique opportunity to take on his long-term rival despite having suffered a third career defeat just last month.
Fury has remained in training since his victory over Dillian Whyte despite announcing he was retired, and he will now have his chance to face Joshua after their bout failed to materialise last year. Should Joshua pull off a significant shock, a rematch clause is in place which would see a second instalment of the clash in 2023.
