Deadline set for Joshua vs Fury as Eddie Hearn questions retirement
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If the dream fight is to materialise this summer, Fury must apparently reverse his retirement quickly. Tyson Fury must reverse his retirement in the next “three or four weeks” to set up a summer showdown with Anthony Joshua, Eddie Hearn has warned. Fury announced his retirement this week, having made the same claim several times in recent years, potentially thwarting a dream fight with Joshua.
![[Tyson Fury lost back-to-back decisions against Oleksandr Usyk in 2024]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/13/15/6c15503cb25ece70b21e2d237ebac52dY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2ODY4Njk2-2.78548418.jpg)
Fury suffered a second straight loss to Oleksandr Usyk in December, following Joshua’s knockout by Daniel Dubois in September. Those results seemingly put Fury, 36, and Joshua, 35, back on track for a long-awaited fight with each other. Yet Fury’s latest retirement, while doubted by many figures in boxing, might have derailed the all-British bout for good. At the very least, its ideal timing in summer 2025 might have been affected.
![[Anthony Joshua (below) was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in September]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/15/20/72d5ca4d83a91a86bdf941d5ee8a7754Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0MzcxNjkw-2.78463507.jpg)
“After that, the summer gets difficult for a fight of this size. The future? Hopefully [...] I think he will be back, but it's in his hands.”. Saudi adviser Turki Al-Sheikh, boxing’s most influential matchmaker, has said he wants Hearn and Fury’s promoter Frank Warren to collaborate on an August fight card. Such an event could take place away from Saudi Arabia, potentially in the UK.
That would seemingly be the ideal opportunity to match Joshua and Fury, though Al-Sheikh has hinted at a different opponent for “AJ” if Fury stays retired. Hearn added, in his conversation with the Mail: “For AJ, we have options to pursue, and we are looking at them currently.”.
