Tyson Fury has returned to negotiations for the all-British heavyweight super-fight with Anthony Joshua.
But Fury has set his rival another deadline and called for him to sign the contract for their showdown today.
“My promoter Frank Warren convinced me to let Queensberry carry on negotiating with your team this week, despite me knowing that you were never going to do this fight,” Fury said.
Both Fury and Joshua are aligned with different broadcasters. Bringing those networks to an agreement on a TV deal was seen as a key stumbling block in the negotiations for this fight. But Fury has claimed that the rival broadcasters are “all happy with the terms”.
“So the deadline was Monday,” Fury said. “I allowed Frank to continue doing meetings with your team and your broadcasters and all that. Now we have BT, DAZN and ESPN all on the same page. They are happy with everything, they are all ready to rock and roll.
“You guys ask for a lot of stuff, you want to be co-promoters when you’re a voluntary challenger. Guess what, I said give it them, let them be co-promoters.
“You wanted full transparency, even though you’re not an equal shareholder in this party. You know what I said? Give them full transparency, I’ve got nothing to hide, I’m not trying to rob anybody, I’ve not robbed anybody of a penny in my life.
“So now you’ve got full transparency, everything is clean and fair. Now Joshua, the ball is really in your court son.”
Joshua has previously insisted that he would sign the contract, but it had to go through his lawyers and management team.
In a direct challenge to him, Fury declared, “Everybody is done. If you’re a man, and if you’ve got any sort of dignity and pride about you, you’ll get this contract signed today. This is it. There is no more days, weeks, months, you’ve had the contract now for over two weeks and you still haven’t signed it.
“Show the public that you’re really the big coward that I know you are, and don’t sign it. I don’t care either way if you sign it or you don’t, it makes no difference to me at all. You’re a beaten man and I’m a world champion. I’m chucking you a massive bone, but I know I can punch a face in so I’m willing to give you an opportunity.
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Dillian Whyte says he’d be happy to fight Joshua in December if his proposed fight with Fury doesn’t get made
“There’s nothing more to do, everyone is happy. Get your team onto mine, they will be available all day, like they’ve been available the last two weeks. Get this contract signed!
“Let the British fans have what they want. There is no running, you have to fight me. You cannot escape. The Fury is coming.”
Usyk expects to fight Fury early next year
Anthony Joshua is no longer a world champion after losing the IBF, WBO and WBA titles to Oleksandr Usyk last year.
Usyk defended his unified championship when he won last month’s rematch against Joshua.
The Ukrainian star was initially Fury’s target for an undisputed title clash. But when Usyk revealed that injury would prevent him boxing again this year, the WBC titlist’s attention shifted to the negotiations with Joshua.
Usyk’s team however believes that his fight with Fury will still happen.
Alexander Krassyuk, Usyk’s promoter, told Sky Sports that: “There won’t be Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.”
He expects Fury to be Usyk’s next fight early in 2023.