A showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury is now seemingly just around the corner, with the long-awaited fight understood to have been signed for and both men heading into pivotal warm-up bouts before a proposed November meeting. Joshua is scheduled to face Kristian Prenga in July, while Fury is still searching for an opponent.
Tony Bellew expects the judges will not be needed when the two heavyweights finally meet. “The only thing that I can fully, really commit to and put my hand on my heart and say, ‘I really genuinely think this is going to happen’ is that it ain’t going the distance,” he said. Bellew added that he cannot fully back Joshua yet because he needs to see him back in a ring, but said there is a case for the Brit if he lets his hands go for six rounds, warning that Joshua has the power to stop anybody. “That is what I will be predicting, Joshua could knock him out,” Bellew said.
The fight has been discussed for years and remains one of the most anticipated matchups in British boxing, but the immediate path still runs through the summer. If both men come through their respective bouts unscathed, they are set to collide in November. That date is what gives the next few weeks their weight, because Joshua and Fury have managed only a combined 2-3 since March 2024 and neither can afford a slip before a fight of this size.
There is still one obvious wrinkle. The bout is said to be signed, but Fury’s opponent has not been named, leaving the final shape of the build-up incomplete. Andy Ruiz Jnr has already thrown his hat into the ring as a possible rival for Fury, a reminder that even with Joshua-Fury moving closer, boxing’s biggest fights still have a habit of shifting around the edges before they are finally in the ring.
For Joshua, July is the first test. For Fury, the wait for an opponent goes on. If both men get through cleanly, November could finally settle a rivalry that has been talked about far longer than it has been fought.
