The Deal Is Dead. Again.
Right then. Three days ago I wrote that Tyson Fury calling out Oleksandr Usyk was leverage rather than a plan. Well, the leverage has run out. Fury has come back on Monday with a much uglier message, and the headline is simple: the Anthony Joshua fight is off, and this time he is not pretending otherwise.
"So, it looks like AJ has bottled it yet again," was the polite translation of what Fury actually said. "After 11 years, he's finally bottled it yet again. So, this would only lead me to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk." He then went straight at the champion who beat him twice: "You've had the guts to do it twice, and you know how difficult it is in there. Listen, you got the decisions last time. Fair play to you. Good luck to you, but let's do it again. Let's run it back in November. The ball is now in your court, Oleksandr. Do you want to fight me this year in 2026, or are you calling it quits? Let me know because I'm now looking for a new opponent."
Why It Fell Apart
The reporting points at the same place it has pointed all summer: friction between Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn and Dana White's TKO. Fury and the Saudi side wanted the fight in America. Hearn wanted it at home. Neither blinked, and once a heavyweight fight of that size has been publicly haggled over for this long, it usually dies of embarrassment rather than of money.
Let's not beat around the bush — I got this one wrong on Friday. I said Fury vs Joshua would still get made, just not at Madison Square Garden. I still think it happens eventually, because there is too much money on the table for it not to. But it is not happening in 2026, and Fury clearly does not believe it is happening either. You do not name a November date for a different opponent if you think your first choice is signing next week. Read the earlier version of the story in our Wednesday callout piece and you can see how much the tone has hardened in 72 hours.
The Problem With The Usyk Plan
He Has Nothing To Prove
Usyk is 2-0 against Fury. Both were points wins, both were reasonably clear, and neither produced the sort of controversy that demands a third fight. He has vacated the heavyweight titles. He has not said the word retirement, but a 39-year-old undefeated pound-for-pound number one who has already given up his belts is not sitting by the phone waiting for a trilogy he has no need to take.
The Calendar Is Absurd
It is the 7th of September. Fury is asking for a fight in November. That is roughly nine weeks to agree terms, sanction it, sell it, build it and get two heavyweights in the high 260s into proper condition. Nobody makes a fight of that size in nine weeks unless the framework already exists. It does not.
Fury Needs It More Than Usyk Does
And that is the whole thing. Fury has come back from a retirement that lasted about ten minutes, he has had one warm-up, and he now needs a name. Usyk needs nothing. When one man needs the fight and the other does not, the one who does not sets the price — and the price will be high enough that this ends up looking like the Joshua negotiation all over again.
What Fury Should Actually Do
Take a live heavyweight in December, look good, and let the market come back to him in the spring. There is a whole generation coming through — the domestic scene alone has enough to keep him busy, and after what happened to Moses Itauma against Filip Hrgovic the heavyweight division suddenly has far more open doors than it did a month ago. Fury is still the biggest draw in the sport in this country. He does not need Usyk's permission to have a career.
Luke's Verdict
Usyk says no. I am not sitting on the fence about this one — he has beaten Fury twice, he has handed back his belts, he is 39, and he has been given a nine-week ultimatum by a man in no position to issue ultimatums. He will either ignore it entirely or answer with a number so large it kills the idea politely. Fury will end up fighting somebody else in the winter, and by February we will all be back arguing about Joshua again. Make no mistake, this is not a fight announcement. It is a man shouting at a closed door. Keep an eye on the fight cards page for what actually gets signed.