Will Fury vs Joshua happen after AJ refuses to take ‘clout-chaser’ challenge bait?

Anthony Joshua in the stands at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday April 11, 2026. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images) | PA Images via Getty Images

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua might be headed toward a fight, but an attempt to get Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn to publicly accept a challenge after Fury’s win over Arslanbek Makhmudov didn’t produce any results.

The long-awaited, long-overdue, but still commercially massive fight between the two heavyweight stars was teased throughout the Fury vs Makhmudov broadcast on Netflix, but was not made official.

Turki Alalshikh called promoters Frank Warren and Hearn into the ring after the bout, though Hearn did not join them. Alalshikh then gave the microphone to Fury, pointing over to the ringside Joshua and saying, “He’s the next.”

10 years in the making, let’s fucking dance!

Tyson Fury

“Next, I want to give you the fight you’ve all been waiting for,” Fury said. “I want you, AJ. Anthony Joshua, let’s give the fight fans what they want. The battle of Britain! Here’s my challenge: I challenge you, Anthony Joshua, to fight me, ‘The Gypsy King,’ next! Do you accept my challenge?”

Joshua stayed seated and stone-faced. Alalshikh was asked if the fight will happen, and said it’s Joshua’s call.

“Come on, you big shit-house, are you going to fight or not?” Fury asked Joshua directly, and it may not have gotten the response he and his team hoped, as Joshua stayed calm and collected, then said Fury will have to come to the table later.

“Tyson, you’re a clout-chaser,” Joshua replied, still in his seat. “I’ve never had no problem getting in the ring with you. I’ve punched you up when we were kids, and after watching you tonight, I’ll punch you up again. With all due respect, tonight is your night, and you know I’ll sit across that ring from you in due time.”

You ain’t gonna tell me what to do. I’ve been chasing you for 10 years.

Anthony Joshua

Joshua made clear that he was not going to be roped into accepting a challenge without a serious negotiation.

“You ain’t gonna tell me what to do. I’ve been chasing you for 10 years. When you’re ready, you come and see me, and tell me your terms and conditions, and I’ll have you in the ring when I’m ready. I’m the boss. You work for me. I’m the landlord. Remember that. You work for me.”

“Do not run from me this time! 10 years in the making, let’s fucking dance!” Fury added. “You’re next, tosser, and you’re getting knocked spark out! Believe that!”

Will Fury vs Joshua happen next?

This felt like a major attempt to spin a narrative that Fury is ready to make a fight and Joshua isn’t. Many will take it that way, and it’s an easy thing to do, it’s how it seems.

There was nothing to lose from the Fury side here. Either you rope AJ and Hearn into accepting something, publicly, with the spotlight on them, or you convince people they’re trying to avoid the fight when they don’t immediately accept.

But Hearn and Joshua are smart businessmen, and they’re not new to this. They also know that whatever people might say before a deal gets done, if the deal gets done, the fight will sell.

The bottom line is this: Joshua’s fights are worth a lot of money. So are Fury’s. And if a legitimate deal had not already been hammered out — and it may have been, this could all be theatrics, too — then there’s no reason to expect Joshua to just announce that he will fight Fury next, without having terms in place and signed off. It would be quite easy, in theory, to challenge Joshua, get him to publicly accept, and have he and Eddie Hearn look bad if they feel like they were then low-balled on the actual offer and reneged on a deal that never really existed in the first place.

Fury vs Joshua IS the fight to make, everyone involved knows that. It’s the biggest money, it will mean the most to the current careers of Fury and Joshua, who are both past their best days but still hugely marketable stars, especially in the United Kingdom. If it doesn’t happen for whatever reason, both sides will tell their tales of woe. But I expect that it will by the end of this year.