Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have appeared to confirm the date of their long-awaited fight after a heated and awkward FaceTime.
The bitter rivals have had plenty of back-and-forths over the years but have never managed to agree terms on a fight.
But a potential heavyweight showdown now appears closer than ever should both Brits get past their upcoming bouts, with Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh likely to play a key role in facilitating the matchup.
Joshua will first look to become a three-time world champion when he takes on fellow Brit Daniel Dubois on September 21 before Fury seeks to avenge the first professional defeat of his career against Oleksandr Usyk on December 21.
However, the two have already resumed their war of words after Alalshikh put the two men on a call together as he confirmed his attention to schedule the fight for the first half of 2025.
‘Champ, finish the job on 21 of December and look who’s waiting for you,’ Alalshikh told the Gypsy King before Joshua added: ‘I’m waiting for you!’
‘I’ll get the f****** job done [against Usyk],’ Fury responded before ‘AJ’ hit back, saying: ‘No you won’t but either way, I’ll be waiting for you.’
As both fighters joked about each other’s punch power, Joshua quipped: ‘Stop using this [points to mouth] and use these [raises up his fists].’
Fury then raised things a notch, replying: ‘I’ll use them both on your face, you big ugly dosser.’
‘Shut up, you look like a tomato,’ an annoyed Joshua hit back with one final insult. ‘Put some sunscreen on, you idiot. You look like a tomato.’
The call came on the same day as the announcement for Joshua-Dubois which almost descended into chaos when Joshua threatened to ‘smash a chair’ over Dubois’ head during a tense face-off.
‘It was at the end of the face-to-face. Somebody said “September 21 and not before”,’ promoter Eddie Hearn told The Stomping Ground.
‘Daniel said, “If you want to go now I’ll go now as well”. AJ then replied “Do you want me to smash this chair across your face?
‘He said, “Don’t ever disrespect me like that again”. They were all pulled apart, there weren’t any punches thrown.’
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