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Anthony Joshua did not enter the ring to respond to Tyson Fury's challenge after Fury's victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov. Instead, Joshua remained calm and called Fury a 'clout-chaser' while confirming he would fight him in the future.
British boxer Anthony Joshua is seen ringside ahead of the heavyweight fight between Britain's Tyson Fury and Russia's Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London on April 11, 2026. (Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Tyson Fury wanted to make a big show out of challenging Anthony Joshua to a fight yesterday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, following Furyâs predicable comeback win over Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Joshua didnât really oblige. When asked/commanded by Fury and Turki Alalshikh to come into the ring for Furyâs challenge, Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn instead stayed ringside. Hearn stood, Joshua sat. Despite attempts by Fury to goad Joshua in with insults â âbig shithouseâ and the usual fare â Joshua stayed relaxed. He did get a microphone, though.
âTyson, youâre a clout-chaser,â Joshua said. âIâve never had no problem getting in the ring with you. Iâve punched you up when we were kids, and after watching you tonight, Iâll punch you up again. With all due respect, tonight is your night, and you know Iâll sit across that ring from you in due time.â
âYou ainât gonna tell me what to do,â he added. âIâve been chasing you for 10 years. When youâre ready, you come and see me, and tell me your terms and conditions, and Iâll have you in the ring when Iâm ready. Iâm the boss. You work for me. Iâm the landlord. Remember that. You work for me.â
In his post-fight press conference, we got another predictable Fury outing. As anyone neutral on the issue might have suspected, he leaned harder into what was pretty clearly an attempt to bully the discussion and urge the people to look favorably upon his side of the story.
The idea is for fans to blame Anthony Joshua for not going into the ring and enthusiastically participating in a WWE-style bit of theatrics. It makes Joshua look weak and afraid. It makes Fury look strong, daring, and bold.
Challenge Joshua. If he doesnât accept, he looks like a coward in front of 60,000 in the stadium and however many millions watching on Netflix. People will buy this because it will make sense to them. A guy got challenged to a fight. He didnât accept. Heâs a coward.
Boxing, though, is not a schoolyard scrap, and Fury isnât asking his class nemesis to meet him at the swings after school to settle a dispute over line cutting or lunch money.
The promoters and organizers of boxing have explained away criticisms for many years with the reminder, always, that boxing is a business. Ahead of being a sport, even, itâs a business. Fans and media are meant to remember that when something that seems like it should happen doesnât.
Well, Tyson Fury fights are big business. So are Anthony Joshua fights. Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua is very big business, indeed. If real negotiation has not taken place, a real deal is not in place, why on earth should Anthony Joshua be expected to leap into the ring for some phony face-off?
From the Fury perspective, there was nothing to lose. If Joshua declines participation, you can say heâs a coward. If he does it, and then an actual deal doesnât come together, you can say heâs a coward who backed out of what he agreed to do. If the terms were absurd and Joshua and Co. didnât accept, who will ever really know? Your word against theirs.
âHe come here for the job, and I asked him to do the fight. He should have got in there and did it, but he didnât give an answer,â Fury said in his press conference.
âTo my opinion, he didnât want no smoke. He didnât want it. He didnât look like he wanted it, he was just shell-shocked, he didnât know what to say. ⊠If it was me, Iâd have jumped in that ring, faced off, letâs get it on. 10 years in the making, and still after all this time, thereâs still uncertainty as to if this fightâs gonna happen next. I donât know.â
Fury, sat next to promoter Frank Warren â who would occasionally quietly chime in with things Tyson should mention â is saying he has signed a contract to fight Joshua, and that he has had it signed for some time. When he wondered aloud if Joshua had signed the contract, Warren piped up and said he has not.
What contract Fury has supposedly signed â if it exists at all â is not clear. But you can draw up a contract that says basically anything and have Fury sign it. It doesnât mean itâs a deal Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn would accept. And it doesnât mean theyâre wrong if the terms are not to their liking.
Donât take the bait. Donât rush to blame Anthony Joshua or Eddie Hearn for not âcreatingâ a fake âmomentâ with Tyson Fury yesterday. As usual, Tyson has said a lot of things that make for great, reaction-driven YouTube and social media quasi-headlines. âAJ WANTS NO SMOKE!â and whatnot.
But if you look at this from a less internet-ready perspective, itâs very simple: Fury says he wants the fight. Joshua says heâll do the fight. It is the fight to make for both. Sit down at the table and hammer out the deal.
If it doesnât get done, both sides will blame the other. The numbers werenât right, or the other side was never really interested, and one or both will have ânot wanted the smoke.â Maybe it really will be that Joshua didnât want it. Maybe, despite the bluster, Fury will truly be the one to blame. Again, who will ever really know? One sideâs word against the other.
But none of it will have anything to do with what did or didnât happen yesterday in what may soon be English footballâs most glorious second tier home stadium. What we saw and everything we heard was a narrative spinning play and, without contracts signed and without real negotiation having taken place, absolutely nothing more.
More:
Anthony Joshua chose to stay ringside instead of responding to Tyson Fury's challenge, maintaining a relaxed demeanor despite Fury's attempts to provoke him.
Joshua referred to Fury as a 'clout-chaser' and stated that he has no problem fighting him, mentioning their past encounters.
Tyson Fury fought Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11, 2026, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Joshua's refusal to engage may indicate a strategic approach to their rivalry, suggesting he is not willing to participate in Fury's promotional theatrics at this time.

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