Another week, another development in Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury.
At this point, am I the only person who thinks this saga has gone on longer than The Godfather?
For years, boxing fans were told there were perfectly understandable reasons why Britain’s two biggest heavyweights couldn’t get into a ring together.
Different promoters. Different broadcasters. Different financial expectations. Different agendas.
Now, apparently, we’ve finally overcome all of that.
Contracts have been signed.
Except somehow we’re still arguing about whether the fight is actually happening.
Tyson Fury has claimed the proposed November fight is in serious doubt and accused Anthony Joshua’s side of demanding more money. Eddie Hearn insists Joshua has signed his contract and says neither fighter can simply walk away without breaching it.
Then there is the venue.
Hearn says Joshua’s original agreement was for the fight to happen in Britain. Organisers now want to take Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury to Madison Square Garden in New York, with Matchroom providing terms under which Joshua would agree to that change.
And that’s the part that bothers me most.
Because if Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury — promoted respectively by Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, two of the most powerful figures in British boxing — can agree to stage potentially the biggest all-British heavyweight fight in history in America because Saudi Arabia is providing the money, perhaps we need to start asking who British boxing actually belongs to anymore.
Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury Was Supposed to Be the Battle of Britain
Strip away the belts, rankings and promotional nonsense and the appeal of Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury was always incredibly simple.
Two British heavyweight champions.
Two enormous personalities.
Two completely different careers.
And one argument that British boxing fans have been having for years.
Who wins?
Joshua filled Wembley Stadium.
Fury built his own enormous following.
For a period, they held every major heavyweight world title between them.
This was supposed to be the defining British heavyweight fight of their generation.
So why on earth would you take it to America?
Madison Square Garden is one of boxing’s great venues. Nobody needs to convince me of its history.
But it isn’t home.
If Joshua fought an American superstar there, I’d understand it.
If Fury was chasing an enormous international opportunity there, I’d understand that too.
But Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury?
The entire identity of this fight is British.
It belongs in front of British boxing fans.
Saudi Arabia Is Putting Up the Money – And Nobody Should Be Surprised
Of course, we know why this conversation is happening.
Money.
And increasingly in boxing, when we’re talking about enormous money, we’re talking about Saudi Arabia.
That isn’t exactly breaking news anymore.
Saudi investment has transformed the financial landscape of elite boxing. Fights that promoters once insisted were financially impossible have suddenly become possible because somebody is prepared to write a big enough cheque.
There have been benefits to that.
We shouldn’t pretend otherwise.
Saudi money has helped make major fights happen, brought rival promoters together and reduced some of the traditional political nonsense that has prevented boxing from giving fans the contests they actually want.
Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren working together would once have sounded about as likely as Joshua and Fury announcing they were going on holiday together.
Money has helped break down those barriers.
But there has to be a balance.
Because when the people providing the money effectively gain enough influence that Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury can become an American event, I think British boxing should at least stop and ask whether it has surrendered too much control.
When Did British Boxing Stop Being About British Fans?
This isn’t an anti-Saudi argument.
It’s an argument about balance.
Saudi Arabia has every right to invest in boxing. If promoters, fighters and broadcasters want to accept that investment, that’s their decision.
But British boxing existed before Saudi Arabia became one of the sport’s dominant financial forces, and it will hopefully exist long afterwards.
The danger is becoming so obsessed with the biggest available cheque that we forget the people who helped create the value in these fights in the first place.
British fans bought the tickets.
British fans bought the pay-per-views.
British fans travelled around the country following Joshua and Fury.
They helped turn both men into enormous commercial attractions.
Now potentially the biggest British fight involving either of them might be taken thousands of miles away because the financial backers prefer New York.
How is that a good thing for British boxing?
At some point the sport has to remember that supporters aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet.
Hearn and Warren Should Want This Fight in Britain
This is where I find the whole thing particularly disappointing.
Eddie Hearn promotes Anthony Joshua.
Frank Warren promotes Tyson Fury.
These aren’t outsiders who have suddenly arrived in British boxing.
Their families have been involved in the sport for decades.
They understand exactly what Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury means here.
And yes, promoters have businesses to run. Fighters have limited careers and deserve to maximise their earnings. Nobody should expect Joshua or Fury to leave millions on the table simply to make supporters happy.
But surely there are some occasions when the occasion itself matters.
This is one of them.
If British boxing cannot keep Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury in Britain, what fight can it keep?
Wembley Stadium with 90,000 people.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
There are enormous venues capable of staging an event worthy of the occasion.
It doesn’t need Madison Square Garden to feel important.
The names Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury already make it important.
And Somehow the Contracts Still Haven’t Ended the Argument
Then we come back to the ridiculous situation surrounding the actual agreement.
Joshua has apparently signed.
Fury has apparently signed.
Yet we’re talking about different financial terms and potentially changing the country in which the fight takes place.
I’m beginning to wonder what the bloody contract actually says.
Hearn’s argument is that Joshua agreed to a British fight. If the organisers now want New York, that’s a material change and Joshua’s side is entitled to negotiate the terms under which it accepts it.
That seems perfectly reasonable to me.
If I sign an agreement to do something in Britain and somebody subsequently tells me I’m doing it in New York instead, you haven’t simply changed the postcode.
Yet Fury’s public position has turned the situation into another argument about Joshua supposedly wanting more money.
And here we go again.
Another statement.
Another response.
Another headline.
Another week talking about whether Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury will finally happen.
Next week Fury might tell us everything is wonderful again.
Who knows?
We Have Been Here Before
Boxing fans can be forgiven for being sceptical because this isn’t the first time we’ve supposedly been close.
In 2021, Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury looked like it was finally happening.
It didn’t.
I’ve previously asked whether the because every attempt to make it seemed to produce another obstacle.
More recently, I’ve questioned whether , because the fight we are getting now — assuming we actually get it — isn’t the fight we could have had when Joshua and Fury were at their peaks.
Neither man is a world champion anymore.
Both have been beaten.
Both are approaching the final chapters of their careers.
The fight remains enormous because of the names involved.
That doesn’t guarantee it’ll be a great fight.
It could be dog shit.
We’re treating Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury like the sporting event of the century because we’ve spent so many years talking about it. But there is every possibility that the spectacle surrounding the fight ends up being considerably better than what happens between the ropes.
Maybe Boxing Has Become Too Dependent on Saudi Money
This is the bigger conversation I think boxing needs to have.
Saudi Arabia has done plenty for the sport.
But perhaps the boxing industry has become too willing to jump whenever Saudi money says jump.
When enormous purses become normal, expectations change.
When promoters become accustomed to somebody else financing the biggest events, the traditional boxing economy changes with it.
And eventually you reach a situation where two British fighters, represented by two British promoters, involved in arguably the biggest outstanding British fight, could end up boxing in America under an event financed by Saudi Arabia.
Just read that sentence again.
At some point you have to wonder whether we’ve lost the balance.
Money should help make fights happen.
It shouldn’t automatically dictate everything about them.
There should still be room for history, atmosphere, identity and the supporters who spent years building these fighters into stars.
Otherwise, what exactly are we preserving?
The Biggest British Fight Should Feel British
Imagine Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury at Wembley.
The ring walks.
The crowd.
The noise when the first bell goes.
Whatever you think about how late this fight has arrived, that would still feel like an event British boxing would remember for decades.
Now imagine exactly the same fight at Madison Square Garden.
Great arena.
Great city.
Completely different occasion.
For me, something would be missing.
This isn’t Canelo Álvarez going to Las Vegas.
It isn’t a British fighter travelling overseas to challenge an established champion.
It’s Joshua versus Fury.
Two British heavyweights finally settling an argument that has dominated British boxing for years.
If ever there were a fight where location should mean something, surely it’s this one.
Fight or Don’t Fight – Just Shut Up About It
And after all of that, I still come back to the same conclusion.
I’m tired of the saga.
I’m tired of wondering whether Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is happening.
I’m tired of every Fury statement becoming another story.
I’m tired of contracts apparently not ending negotiations.
I’m tired of money seemingly being the answer to every question in modern boxing.
So here’s my solution.
Fight or don’t fight. Just shut up about it.
If it’s happening, announce the date, announce the venue, sell the tickets and ring the bell.
If it isn’t, fine.
There are plenty of other fighters and stories worth talking about.
Because after the failed negotiations of 2021 and everything that has happened since, I don’t blame a single boxing fan who refuses to believe Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is happening until both men are standing opposite each other and the referee signals the start of round one.
And if this really is going to be the final chapter of one of British boxing’s longest-running sagas, there is one more thing I’d like.
Let Britain have its fight.
What Do You Think?
Has boxing become too dependent on Saudi money, or is that investment simply the reality of making the biggest fights happen?
And if Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury finally takes place, should anything other than a British stadium ever have been considered?
Share your view in the comments, send this article to another boxing fan and join the conversation.
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