John Fury has revealed that his son Tyson's planned bout with Anthony Joshua is "doubtful" after the expiration of the latest deadline.
The 'Gypsy King' confirmed he would make a return to the ring and shelve his retirement plans by offering long-term rival Joshua the chance to fight for his WBC heavyweight crown. Joshua accepted the offer and the pair entered successful negotiations, with the champion's team sending over the contract for a clash to be finalised.
Fury gave Joshua a 10-day deadline to conclude the deal and sign the paperwork which was missed, so it looked as if Fury would move on and face Manuel Charr. However, he made a surprise U-turn by giving 'AJ' another day to sign on the dotted line - but once again the fight now seems dead in the water.
Fury's father has accused Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn of having "twitchy backsides", with the huge heavyweight fight looking unlikely to take place. "Well to be honest with you it is looking very doubtful because AJ has got a twitchy backside and so has Eddie Hearn who has an even bigger twitchy backside," John Fury told Mirror Fighting courtesy of FreeBets.com. "I think it is just general knowledge that they can't beat the Gypsy King.
"What they want to do is to-and-fro for the next twelve months like they did with Deontay Wilder and nothing come of it. Tyson has put a deadline on it to stop this from happening. Tyson is not a to-and-froer, he wants the contract signed and get it on or tell the truth. This is what I would say if I would say if I was AJ, I would say 'look I have just come off of a defeat, I want time out of boxing and to be with the family for a bit and I want to rest.'
"That would be fair enough we would accept that. But when you are coming across like you want to fight tomorrow, Tyson will chase him down and that is what he has done. He has given them everything across the board. Whatever they want they have got and Tyson has said 'anything you name you have got it'. What more can you do? It is them they don't want it."
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It looks as if a fight is unlikely, with Fury matching his dad's stance on social media by declaring he will move on and hand the opportunity potentially to German heavyweight Charr. He also made a video suggesting he could fight two opponents in one night, with his plan remaining to fight at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 3.
From Joshua's camp, promoter Hearn suggested that fight is also unlikely as far as he is concerned, and he thinks the champion should fight Joe Joyce. "I think as we sit here now, I'd say no [it doesn't happen]," Hearn told Off Script on Dubai Eye. "I've just opened up Instagram and saw he's called out Manuel Charr again.
"He's calling him out like this a guy who is an actual credible heavyweight. 'You're the one Manuel, you've got the guts.' This is a guy who's not even rated. It's a chronic mismatch and if he doesn't want to fight 'AJ', why doesn't he fight Joe Joyce? He's ready to guy and they have the same promotional company."
