Tyson Fury Calls Anthony Joshua a Coward Amid Fight Delays

Tyson Fury has ripped into Anthony Joshua, branding his long-time rival a “coward” as the two heavyweights sit in limbo over whether their long-promised all-British showdown will finally be signed off.

The fight, pencilled in for November, was supposed to be the night the pair settled years of needle and noise. Instead, it is drifting. The venue remains the sticking point, and with every day that passes, the chances of seeing Fury and Joshua share a ring this year grow slimmer.

Joshua, a two-time unified world champion, and his promoter Eddie Hearn have already signed a contract for the bout to take place in the United Kingdom. The organisers behind the event, though, are understood to favour taking it to the United States, tempted by the money and spectacle of a stateside blockbuster.

That creates a problem. Hearn has been clear before: if the fight moves away from the UK, the paperwork has to be rewritten. New country, new numbers, new deal.

While the lawyers and executives haggle, Fury has chosen a different route. He’s gone straight for Joshua’s throat.

Fresh from beating seasoned campaigner Mariusz Wach last month to keep the super-fight alive, the 38-year-old admitted on Wednesday that the drawn-out talks are wearing thin.

“Negotiations are becoming quite tiring,” he said, before laying out his version of events. “I’ve been down to fight at every location that’s been mentioned – England, Ireland, Vegas, New York, back to England, back to Ireland, back to New York. Listen, I’ve said yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, every single time. Zero stipulations.”

Then came the real punch.

“The facts are I feel like you’re being a coward. I feel like you don’t want the fight and you’re just conning everybody. I feel like you’ve been doing that for years.

You’ve had many opportunities to fight me, but deep down you’ve never really wanted it, so let’s see if you’re going to man up for a final time.”

The pressure didn’t stop there. In a separate post, Fury appeared alongside former heavyweight king Mike Tyson, using the presence of the legend whose name he carries to twist the knife further. A grinning Fury told Joshua, now 36, to “sign the contract, big boy”, echoing one of Tyson’s famous lines and turning it into a pointed challenge to his fellow Brit.

Behind the scenes, Fury’s camp insists their man has done everything required. Frank Warren, his promoter at Queensbury, told Sky Sports News that Fury’s side of the deal is complete.

“It is signed by Tyson,” Warren said. “Tyson is signed up for the fight and agreed for the fight.”

So the contracts, the clauses, the venues and the TV money all sit on the table. Fury says he’s in. Joshua’s camp wants the UK. The organisers want America.

At some point, someone has to blink – or the biggest all-British heavyweight fight of this era will stay exactly where it has been for years: stuck in the realm of what might have been.