Tyson Fury’s next opponent is set to be revealed this week, with Frank Warren saying the heavyweight champion will fight again before any showdown with Anthony Joshua. Warren said the next bout should be announced next week and described it as a fight that will suit Fury.
“We’ll hopefully be in a position to announce it next week, that’s what we’re looking to do,” Warren told Sky Sports on Sunday. He added that Fury’s next fight would be “a good opponent” and “good for him,” while warning that he “can’t afford to slip up” because Joshua also has a bout coming up in a few weeks’ time.
The timing matters because Fury and Joshua are being lined up for a major fight later in the year if both men take care of business first. Fury last fought in April, when he beat Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Warren has already said the former world champion will box again before any meeting with Joshua. Joshua, meanwhile, has his own fight to clear before the bigger prize can move from talk to action.
“[Joshua’s] got to come through that, Tyson has to come through his, and then the big one will be in November,” Warren said. That makes the next few weeks a staging ground for what could become one of boxing’s biggest domestic fights of the year, with both men expected to remain active before November becomes the target date.
Warren also said Moses Itauma is moving onto a higher stage, with the young heavyweight due to fight in Manchester against a top 10 opponent. “Moses [Itauma] is fighting up in Manchester, we’re going to announce it,” he said. “He’s fighting a top 10 heavyweight, we expect to get the fight we want to make over the line. Again, a great heavyweight fight.”
There is already a packed run of boxing dates around the sport, including Chris Billam-Smith’s fight with Ryan Rozicki on June 6 at the Zuffa Boxing show in Bournemouth. But for Fury and Joshua, the picture is clearer than ever: both must win their next fights, and only then does November look like the month that finally delivers the heavyweight meeting Britain has been waiting for.
