Another thick cloud of doubt has erupted over the possibility of Nigerian-born world boxing heavyweight champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua getting a much-expected unification bout with British rival, Tyson Fury.
Megasportsarena.com eports that the latest round of doubt over the likelihood of the of-and-on blockbuster challenge eventually seeing the light of day is coming from Fury himself.
In the latest twist to the contentious saga, Fury has sensationally confessed that he has never been optimistic his much-anticipated all-British heavyweight showdown with Joshua will happen.
Fury’s scheduled WBC world title defence against Deontay Wilder in July was postponed following a positive coronavirus test for the 33-year-old.
With that trilogy contest rearranged for October 9 and Joshua set to defend his IBF, WBA and WBO titles against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in London on September 25, a clash between the British rivals does not appear to be on the near horizon.
A court ruling in May had forced Fury to ditch an immediate bout with Joshua and instead face his American rival once again following a controversial draw with ‘The Bronze Bomber’ in December 2018 and his seventh-round knockout in Las Vegas during February last year.
Considering all the background politics and public war of words between the British heavyweights, getting them to settle their differences in the ring anytime soon seems some way off.
Fury also could not resist another barb at his 31-year-old British rival and suggested that he would be willing to give up his title if it meant being able to go head to head with the two-time champ, whose father hails from Ogun State.
‘The Gypsy King’ told Gary Neville’s The Overlap YouTube channel: “I’ve never been optimistic about this fight happening.
“And even when we said it was going to happen in Saudi Arabia and the deal was done, I still wasn’t optimistic about it, and guess what? It never happened.
“I do think sooner or later it has to happen, even if we have to go AWOL and throw all the belts in the bin for whatever reasons, and then just fight each other.
“I’d do that, if that makes sense, but I’m not sure if he would be willing to do that. He’s been filtered, media trained. I don’t need to change. He’s had to change his image, so I’d almost call that fake, a character.”
