As talks continue — we think — between the camps for WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury and WBA/IBF/WBO titleholder Anthony Joshua, the tone is starting to change a bit.
Although both Eddie Hearn and Bob Arum say the fight is just waiting to be signed, Fury himself doesn’t sound so confident when speaking with iFL TV.
“Let’s break it down, shall we, to bare minimum? Eddie Hearn’s a boxing promoter, so is Bob Arum. It’s their job to sell the fight. Joshua is saying what he’s saying, I don’t know what he’s saying, I’m not on social media at the moment at all. So whatever they say is very unimportant to me,” Fury said.
“Until I’ve got a date, a fight, and a load of money in my pocket, there’s no fight. There’s a lot of things going on that people don’t know behind the scenes, that can scupper a fight. Nothing’s actually on until you’re actually in the ring. We’re nowhere near that at the moment.”
Asked if there’s anything he can do personally, Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO) shook his head.
“I can’t do nothing. It’s out of my hands. Nothing to do with me at all, I’m just a boxer. There’s a lot of things behind the scenes going on, like I say, that can alter a fight,” he said.
“Do I think I’m gonna be fighting Joshua in the next 10 minutes? Hell no. Do I think the fight will eventually happen sooner or later? Yes, it has to happen, but do I think it’s imminent, right next minute? No, I don’t.
“We seen Mayweather and Pacquiao, how long did that go on for? When it finally did happen it was the most pay-per-viewed fight in history. Even though it was a wet fish, it still did just under five million buys, the biggest fight ever in history.”
Fury, 32, stressed that he isn’t fully banking on the fight with Joshua (24-1, 23 KO), and that he intends to fight twice this year no matter what.
“I’m not going to hold me breath for it, that’s for sure. I’m not going to put all me eggs in one basket, because I’ve been guilty of doing that before. And then these fights don’t happen, and then I end up in a massive depression and feel like killing meself, so I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, this fight’s definitely happening in May, June, August, whenever.’ If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, I can’t do anything about it.
“I’m open to fight Fred Flintstone and his cousin. I’ve got two fights this year and I don’t give a fuck who it’s with. I don’t care.”
