Anthony Joshua
Anthony Joshua looks on ahead of their World Heavyweight Championship fight against Oleksandr Usyk during the Rage on the Red Sea Heavyweight Title Fight at King Abdullah Sports City Arena on August 20, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Francois Nel/Getty Images

KEY POINTS

  • Eddie Hearn has confirmed that the fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will be put on ice for now
  • Fury recently went after Joshua and his camp publicly
  • Dillian Whyte, Fury's former foe, has reminded him to exercise some patience

Anthony Joshua has been pining for a resurgence after falling short twice against Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk, and his target has since shifted to fellow British boxer Tyson Fury.

"The Gypsy King" has since retired after his victory over Dillian Whyte to remain undefeated, but has since been hinting at a super fight between him and Joshua taking place in December.

However, that notion might be dead in the water after an update from Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn.

The chairman of Matchroom Sport recently spoke with Sky Sports to reveal where things stand between both sides.

"As far as we're concerned, the fight's off. We're happy to continue the discussions. In our mind, he's not fighting Anthony Joshua. We're more than happy to continue those conversations but what we've been told is the deadline is passed and so have the entire country," Hearn said.

"We have sent the final version of the contract back, they've come back with points and we were told that the fight is off by the man himself."

Hearn later explained that Fury's camp did not expect their side to agree to their proposed fight date, but they did and were just fixing up the finer parts of the contract details for much of last week–with ultimatums being set for Monday before being moved to Wednesday.

In addition, they were asked to agree to the new terms that same day which led to them not signing at all.

Joshua's longtime promoter added that they are still ready to get the fight done and are ready to negotiate, but the December date definitely appears to be off the table.

In late September, Fury went to social media to call out the former Olympic gold medalist and divulged the entire saga from his perspective with much frustration.

His rant was not well-received by Whyte, however, as the former heavyweight title contender noted that Fury's continuous social media barrages are not helping the negotiations progress at all and reminded him that big fights take time to get organized due to its intricacies.

A fight between Fury and Joshua might not have the same luster as it once had in the minds of the public before the latter lost his momentum, but the mere thought of British boxing's top two fighters sharing the ring together is still enough to get the hype train chugging.

The only question now, as it always has been, is when a deal will be ironed out.

Tyson Fury
Tyson Fury is victorious as he defeats Dillian Whyte during their WBC heavyweight championship fight at Wembley Stadium on April 23, 2022 in London, England. Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images