TYSON FURY has offered Anthony Joshua a £20MILLION bare-knuckle fight until ‘one man quits’ after his Brit rival branded him a ‘fraud’.
The heavyweight champions, who were all-but confirmed to meet on August 14 in Saudi Arabia, took aim at each other online.
Joshua, 31, tweeted: “The world now sees you for the fraud you are. You’ve let boxing down! You lied to the fans and led them on.
“Used my name for clout not a fight. Bring me any championship fighter who can handle their business correctly.”
Fury, 32, responded: Your (sic) more full of s*** that Eddie, Spouting absolute s***e!
“Your full team knew there was an Arbitration going on, it was out of my hands!
“But i tell you what if i’m a fraud let’s fight this weekend bare knuckles till 1 man quits? let’s put up 20 mill each!!!”
And the war of words continued, with AJ then hitting back: “If there was an arbitration going on, why announce to the world we are fighting! The fight was signed! UNDISPUTED.
“Bare knuckle? You’re a good kid, don’t play with me Luke! I’ll slap your bald head & you’ll do nothing! Waste man.”
To which Fury replied: “Not going in to the details on line! you’ll slap me about will you dosser please come and try Bum, i’m waiting…
“Femi AKA Bottlejob! 24/7 365. Ready. i’ll smoke wilder first then you will get yours aswell.”
The Battle of Britain was thrown in doubt after a US judge ruled in favour of Deontay Wilder in arbitration.
It means Fury owes the ex-WBC champion a third fight in their series, or would need to strike a step aside deal to keep his super-fight with AJ alive.
Fury dethroned the American of the title in February 2020 but their contract included an immediate rematch.
That never came to fruition amid the coronavirus pandemic and the Gypsy King’s team argued the stipulation expired in October.
As a result, they entered talks with Joshua all while Wilder took his case to civil court. Following months of waiting, the decision went his way.
And any hopes of negotiating a compensation package for Wilder to sit on the sidelines have been seemingly thrown out.
His trainer Malik Scott, 40, posted: “Wilder declined and had no interest in step-aside money.
“Y’all dealing with a whole different type motherf***a over here. He want the blood, not that step-aside money. ‘Retribution is upon us’.”
And Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum told ESPN: “We’re not paying Wilder to step aside. It’s better to get rid of him.
“We can make Fury vs AJ for November or December.”
The Top Rank boss also said he has reserved the new 65,000-seater Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for July 24 should Fury have to box Wilder again.
With things looking bleak, AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed he will give Fury’s side until the end of the week to resolve their trilogy dispute.
Hearn said on Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel: “I have been focusing on Plan A. The only fight we had our mind on was Tyson Fury.
“We hope that that fight can still take place on August 14th.
“The game changed last night where we have to have a plan B in place, and probably a plan C as well.
“We have a couple of different options; of course, the one that springs to mind immediately is the WBO mandatory of Oleksandr Usyk.
“They have been quite patient and I think really, we are in a situation where if Team Fury don’t get themselves together, get their act together, by the end of this week, we will have no option but to look for an alternative fight.”
Hearn, a driving force in securing a deal for the all-British unification, hopes the super-fight can still be saved.
But he admitted it is out of his hands and is lining up a backup option in Oleksandr Usyk, 34, who is Joshua’s mandatory challenger.
Usyk and the WBO had initially given AJ clearance to put his mandatory title defence on hold to instead proceed with a unification.
But after news of Wilder’s legal win, the Ukrainian and his promoter Alexander Krassyuk lobbied to have their title shot called.
The WBO responded by giving AJ and his promoter 48 hours to show they are still fighting Fury or instead be made to face Usyk.
According to The Athletic, talks are underway for AJ to face the southpaw on either August 21 or 28 should the undisputed fight fall through.
Talks for Joshua’s alternative opponent have accelerated, but Usyk publicly told Hearn he wanted an improved offer as he prepares to slide in.
He said: “Hi Eddie, I want money. More money.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
