Anthony Joshua admitted he wasn’t in his best form, though he knocked out Jake Paul tonight in Miami, but the 36-year-old former heavyweight champ has just one big name on his mind next, and that’s Tyson
Fury.
Joshua (29-4, 25 KO) and the “retired” Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO) have traded barbs in the media for years now, largely coming from Fury’s direction toward AJ.
But with Fury yet again teasing an “end” to his latest “retirement,” talk of the fight is back on for 2026, and AJ made clear tonight that that’s what he wants.
“If Tyson Fury’s as serious as he thinks he is and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come and fight one of the realest fighters out there,” he said.
“Step in the ring with me next, if you’re a real bad boy. Don’t do all that talking — ‘AJ this, AJ that.’ Let’s see you in the ring and talk with your fists.”
Fury, 37, didn’t fight in 2025, last taking to the ring for a rematch loss to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024. A third fight with Usyk was discussed earlier this year, but the response was lukewarm at best, and an overdue, all-UK heavyweight clash between Fury and Joshua, the two biggest British boxing stars of their era, seems like the fight to make for both.
Fury will no doubt be ready with his “Twitter fingers” to take his shots at Joshua’s form tonight, and many will agree those shots will have been earned given AJ’s performance.
