Tyson Fury has called off his fight against Anthony Joshua after 'AJ' failed to sign the contract before Fury's deadline of Monday evening.
Following his fight against Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua was desperately looking to get back in the ring before the end of the year. 'The Gypsy King' then called out his fellow Brit for a title fight in December, with the WBC Heavyweight title on the line.
'AJ' accepted the challenge and contract negotiations began. Talks between the two teams had ceased temporarily following the death of the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II. However, Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions revealed that they had already sent a contract over to Joshua's 258 MGT. Tyson Fury decided to give Anthony Joshua a deadline to sign the contract.
'The Gypsy King' stated that if Joshua did not sign the contract on Monday, September 26, before 5 pm, the fight would be called off.
However, mega-fights are not made so fast and both sides need time to sort out and agree to the specifics of the contract. Notwithstanding, a little after 5 pm on Monday, Fury put out a video on Instagram saying the fight was officially off.
He called Anthony Joshua a lot of words such as "coward and "s**thouse bodybuilder." Frank Warren released a statement in a recent interview with talkSPORT to give fans more clarity on the situation:
"Frank Warren has insisted that they are still trying to make Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua following a 'good meeting' today. However, he said Fury's 'lost patience', hence his deadline."
Take a look at the tweet by Michael Benson:
Dillian Whyte offers to replace Tyson Fury and fight Anthony Joshua
Former WBC mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte has offered to replace Tyson Fury in 'The Battle of Britain' against Anthony Joshua. Shortly after Fury made the announcement that he would not be fighting 'AJ', Whyte lunged at the opportunity to step in.
In a recent interview with SkySports, he revealed his intentions:
"He's training for it, he's ready to take Tyson Fury on. So if that fight don't get made, then I'll step up and take the fight with Joshua."
The pair faced each other once before in a thrilling encounter at the O2 Arena in London in 2015. 'The Body Snatcher' managed to wobble 'AJ' but failed to capitalize on it. Joshua fought back to end the fight with a brutal seventh-round KO.
Take a look at the tweet by Michael Benson reporting the news: