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Anthony Joshua agrees to purse split with Tyson Fury but there's still an issue

Anthony Joshua agrees to purse split with Tyson Fury but there's still an issue

The two British heavyweights are trying to agree to a fight before the end of the year, after Oleksandr Usyk's fight with Fury fell away.

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua's heavyweight world title fight could be a step closer, but as usual there's yet another stumbling block to their potential clash.

Fury and Joshua's potential meeting is like Manchester United's pursuit of Frenkie de Jong, with a new twist in the tale on an almost daily basis.

The pair were supposed to meet in October last year, with Fury even announcing it, before an American court decided he had to meet Deontay Wilder for a third time.

Joshua's losses to Oleksandr Usyk, and Fury's retirement, made a fight between the two British heavyweights look like it was further away than ever.

However, last week Fury called out Usyk for wanting to wait until next year for their unification fight and suddenly the bout with AJ seemed back on.

On Tuesday, the Gypsy King revealed he was offering his rival a 60/40 purse split in order to make sure there were no excuses from the Olympic gold medalist to not take the fight.

Speaking to IFL TV, Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn confirmed that they have accepted that split, and once it reversed in the rematch.

Whilst that's all very promising for the chances of the fight happening, there is of course yet another stumbling block coming in the form of the date of the fight.

Hearn said that his fighter wanted it to take place on December 17th, saying that Frank Warren's Queensbury Promotions had Cardiff's Principality Stadium already signed up for that date.

However, Fury himself took to social media to complain about that date, instead claiming that he'd only be willing to compete on November 26th or December 3rd.

"Nov 26th at Wembley or Dec 3rd in Cardiff. That's the dates, take or leave," the Manchester born boxer said in a comment on an Instagram post.

Joshua lost to Usyk in his most recent two fights. Image: Alamy
Joshua lost to Usyk in his most recent two fights. Image: Alamy

The date is clearly something that still needs to be worked on, and was the reason that Fury has moved on from the chance to fight Usyk.

That might be because the 34-year-old wants go back into retirement yet again, having already seemingly reversed that decision several times, including to call out Dereck Chisora.

He most recently appeared at WWE's first premier live event in the UK for 30 years, at Clash at the Castle last weekend, which was also at the Principality Stadium, and has hinted at a future career with the wrestling promotion.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Heavyweight Boxing, Boxing, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua