Tyson Fury threatens to get fat and retire again if Anthony Joshua won't fight: 'It’s either him or I’m gone'

Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday in London, his first fight in 16 months.

(Richard Pelham via Getty Images)

In case you weren’t certain, Tyson Fury is making his next target clear. After his victorious comeback to the ring on Netflix, it’s Anthony Joshua or bust.

Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) soundly outclassed Arslanbek Makhmudov (21-3, 19 KOs) on Saturday inside London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, competing for the first time in 16 months and picking up his first win since late 2023. The performance, which concluded with a one-sided unanimous decision for the former world heavyweight champion, marked Fury’s return from his fifth career retirement.

Joshua was seated ringside to take in the action, and Fury wasted little time calling out his longtime rival following his victory. Joshua, however, refused multiple invitations to enter the ring and face off with Fury, and though he acknowledged some interest in a long-discussed bout against Fury, Joshua ultimately declined to commit to anything concrete on the Netflix broadcast — a decision which left Fury incensed.

“It’s another stumbling block again,” Fury ranted in his post-fight press conference. “It’s been 10 years in the making. Like, what’s the hold-up? He’s just come off a win [over Jake Paul], knocked a man spark out , broke a man’s jaw. I‘ve just come off a win. Let’s get it on. He’s 36 or 37, I’m the same age. Let’s fight. What’s the hold-up? It’s not like, ‘Oh, I want one up on you.’ Why keep postponing these fights? This fight was supposed to happen years ago.

Tyson Fury (L) calls out Anthony Joshua (white shirt) to fight him next after he wins his heavyweight bout against Arslanbek Makhmudov.

(Mark Robinson via Getty Images)

“If it ain’t Anthony Joshua next, I’m not interested in boxing,” Fury continued. “I’ll eat a thousand easter eggs, go up to 35 stone [490 pounds] — I’m out. I’m not interested. It’s either him or I’m gone again. I’m not interested at all. I’m not interested in up-and-comers. I’m not interested in someone trying to prove a point over me. I don’t care. I don’t care about rankings, I don’t care about belts. I only care now about AJ. That fight — that’s the defining fight for British boxing. It’s either going to happen or it’s not.”

Fury, 37, went on to clarify that he has signed a three-fight deal for 2026 and hopes to make good on those three bouts, however he doubled down on his disinterest in facing anyone other than Anthony Joshua or boxing’s current heavyweight king, Oleksandr Usyk, the latter of whom defeated Fury twice in 2024.

Fury specifically named top heavyweight contenders Daniel Dubois and Moses Itauma as fights he has zero interest in, and claimed he’s already signed a contract to fight Joshua in 2026. Fury’s promoter, Queenberry’s Frank Warren, backed up Fury’s claim of the all-British mega-fight already being signed on their end, and asserted that Joshua is the lone party holding things up. Fury also said he does not care about details such as a purse split — he simply wants to make the fight happen before it’s too late.

“Tonight [Joshua] came here for the job, and I asked him to do the fight [in the ring], and he should have got in there and did it, but he didn’t give an answer,” Fury said. “To my opinion, he didn’t want no smoke. He didn’t want it. He didn’t even look like he wanted it. He was just shell-shocked, he didn’t know what to say.

“He came ringside to make a fight, and yeah, if it was me, I would’ve jumped straight in that ring, faced off, let’s get it on. Ten years in the making, and still, after all this time, there is still uncertainty about if this fight is going to happen next. I know know. You can ask me, is it going to happen? Do I want it? Yes. But is it going to happen? I’ve no idea.”

Fury vs. Joshua has long been one of the coveted bouts in all of heavyweight boxing. The fight has nearly come to fruition multiple times, only for negotiations to inevitably hit a snag before they cross the finish line.

Regarding his own comeback performance, Fury admitted it took a couple of rounds Saturday night to really get going, but by the end of his latest return bout — which saw him outland Makhmudov on the total punch count 199-51 — Fury felt he was “back to vintage Tyson Fury.”

“It felt unbelievable,” he said. “I’ve been away 16 months and been a loser for 16 months, and before that I was a winner for 17 years. That takes some dealing with. I walked away, I was unhappy with the [Usyk] decisions, I thought I won the fights — I’m not going to go there with all that bulls*** in 2026.

“So I walked away and it was sad for me to go out losing, because I’m not a loser. And to come back after all that time out, and the age of me as well, and everyone saying he can’t do it, his legs are gone, he’s got no speed, he can’t boxing no more, he’s at the tail-end of his career, twilight — all that there. And to come here and do 12 rounds … it was really, really, really great for me.”