We’ve waited many years for this moment, but Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua is finally set to take place in 2026.
The two British heavyweight superstars – both two-time former world champions – will get into a professional ring together at last in a Riyadh Season event. Potentially at Wembley Stadium in September.
Before that, Fury (now 37 years old) and the 36-year-old Joshua will appear in separate fights to build the anticipation for their long-awaited meeting.
Right now of course ‘The Gypsy King’ is still officially retired, having hung up his gloves following the second of back-to-back defeats by Oleksandr Usyk in 2024. But there was always the feeling that he would come back for one last massive payday. And paydays come no bigger than a showdown with Joshua.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes both men will each earn £100million for one night’s work when they finally do meet – and it promises to be a pretty lucrative 12 months for AJ. Next Friday (December 19) in Miami he will earn north of £50million for an eight-rounder against Youtuber Jake Paul, live on Netflix.
Date and venue
At this stage the smart money is on that September date, with the venue likely to be Wembley Stadium in London. With a 100,000 crowd in attendance. It would be a major coup for Riyadh Season, not only getting this fight over the line but also holding it where British fans have the best chance to watch it live.
Fury (34-2-1) remains a slight favourite with the oddsmakers, but his two losses against Usyk, and a disappointing showing vs former UFC star Francis Ngannou before that, have tightened up the betting.
Joshua (28-4) is coming off the most devastating loss of his career so far – a fifth-round knockout at the hands of Daniel Dubois in September 2024. He has since undergone elbow surgery and will make his return vs Jake Paul next weekend.
Early 2026 is expected to see both men in action (AJ reportedly has a date in place for February in Saudi Arabia) before the big one later in the year. Finally, it is happening.
We’ve been here before
This is not the first time we’ve been close to this fight happening – back in 2021 the two fighters agreed a two-fight deal with the first meeting set for August 2021.
Then Deontay Wilder won an arbitration ruling to force a third fight against Fury, Joshua lost his titles to Usyk and the opportunity was gone.
Neither man holds a world heavyweight title right now (Usyk holds the WBC, WBA and IBF titles and Fabio Wardley is the WBO king) but the fight still holds massive appeal.
There are echoes of Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Manny Pacquiao as well – that fight finally happened in 2015, some five years after both men were at their respective peaks.
