The back and forth between John Fury and Eddie Hearn shows no signs of easing off, with Tyson’s dad dropping the latest bombs on Friday.
He went on social media to tell Hearn to “get your a*** in gear” and finalise the much-anticipated Fury vs Anthony Joshua superfight.
Despite the fact contracts were signed more than two weeks ago to make the fight official, there is still no date and venue.
Big John continues to air doubts the bout will happen next. He says Tyson will fight twice this year – with or without Joshua.
John Fury unconvinced
Hearn is on a global tour this week looking to field offers from sites interested in staging the bout. The Middle East remains hot favourite – likely Saudi Arabia. John though remains unconvinced.
Speaking on Instagram on Friday, he said: “This is a message for Eddie Hearn, and all his supporters of AJ. We’re not bothered about Anthony Joshua one iota, and here’s what you can do.
“If he wants to fight in June, get it ready for June Eddie – we’ll take him as a warm-up fight. We value Anthony Joshua that much, we’ll take him as a warm-up fight in June.”
Tyson’s inactivity
The eagerness from the Fury camp to get the fight finalised likely has something to do with Tyson’s 14 months of inactivity since his demolition of Deontay Wilder. That will stretch to at least 16 months even in the unlikely event he does meet Joshua in June.
Tyson has spoken on multiple occasions this year about the damage inactivity can do to a top-level fighter, notably following high-profile defeats for UFC megastar Conor McGregor and boxer Josh Warrington.
His father re-iterated the message to Hearn loud and clear, adding: “So get your a*** in gear, get everything that needs doing done, and we’ll take him in June. We’ll have the first fight with him, because Tyson is fighting twice this year but we’d like AJ to be the first one on the butcher’s block.
“So get your a*** in gear mate, wave your magic wand and let’s get this fight started.”
Fury vs Joshua – if it happens this summer – will be for all of the major world heavyweight titles. It should result in the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis back in 1999.
The two men have signed a two-fight deal, with an immediate rematch expected before the end of 2021. They are expected to earn around $100million each for their first fight alone – record purses for British fighters.