One of the first things Tyson Fury did after his victory was officially confirmed over Arslanbek Makhmudov was to grab a microphone and confront his long-time rival Anthony Joshua, who was sitting ringside, watching the entire scene unfold alongside his promoter, Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom.
But, despite Fury’s demand to enter the ring and commit to fighting him next, Joshua refused to even stand-up.
And, when speaking to Netflix after the call-out, he explained all the reasons why.
“It’s on him,” he said, before commenting on all the times Fury has fought, retired, only to return to the ring, and retire again, thus making an all-British bout difficult to book.
“He disappears, come back, disappears. It don’t matter to me. I make the big fights. He works for me.”
— Anthony Joshua, 2026
More to follow…
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Alan Dawson is Boxing Social’s editor.
He is also a columnist for Uncrowned at Yahoo Sports, and the founder-moderator of Boxing Twitter — a 20,000-strong community on X.
A 17-year sports media veteran, Alan has enjoyed extensive stints at Business Insider as a correspondent, BT Sport as digital editor, and Give Me Sport as combat sports editor.
He is a 2-time Sports Journalist of the Year finalist and has been honored six times by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Alan grew up near London but is based in Nevada with his young family. Outside boxing he plays 8-handicap golf, hikes, and rides his ebike through the Sierra mountain trails.
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