The Joshua vs. Fury saga produced its wildest 48 hours yet this weekend, and as of Sunday afternoon the fight is neither dead nor alive. It is whatever the last man with a phone said it was.
Sunday’s entry came from Tyson Fury, walking down a street on Instagram, declaring that after 11 years Joshua “has shat his pants yet again,” then tagging Oleksandr Usyk and inviting him to run back their trilogy in November. It is the fourth time in three weeks Fury has announced the fight is off. It is the first time he has named a replacement, and the name matters: the undisputed champion who beat both men, offered the same date and, presumably, the same Madison Square Garden slot Fury has been posting about since Tuesday.
Eddie Hearn’s weekend was busier. On Friday he announced talks had reopened for Wembley, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan pledging to move heaven and earth on a stadium curfew. On Saturday night at Croke Park, he told The Stomping Ground that TKO had gone “around the back” to offer Joshua money and a 90-minute deadline to take the fight in America, called them “snakes,” said they would be served with a legal letter, and put the odds of a UK venue at 60 percent. On DAZN he added, “you can’t buy everybody.”
TKO has not responded. Sela and Turki Alalshikh, the people who actually fund the fight and control its announcement, have said nothing publicly all week. Fury’s manager Spencer Brown confirmed days ago that replacements were ready if Joshua declined New York.
So the board reads: Fury has moved on to Usyk, on Instagram. Hearn is at 60 percent and lawyering up, in interviews. The money is silent. And the press conference that was supposed to happen this week has not been scheduled.
Last week we wrote that time would tell whether Eddie Hearn wins the Cadillac or the steak knives. Time is taking its time. But for the first time, one of the two fighters has publicly booked a different car.
