The stage was set on Saturday night for a big announcement when Tyson Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) was announced as the unanimous decision winner over Arslanbek Makhmudov, live on Netflix. Anthony Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) was ringside alongside Eddie Hearn, and Fury, Frank Warren, and Turki Alalshikh were in the ring, but in the end, there was no fight announcement, leaving a confusing feeling throughout the arena, which reportedly had over 65,000 in attendance. As veteran journalist Steve Kim would say, “It went off like a fart in church.”
The history between Joshua and Fury runs deep, as their fights have been on and off for the last five years. The reason was mostly boxing politics between their respective promoters, Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions, who have an even longer domestic rivalry. In the periods when fights did not happen, Joshua lost twice to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, and so did Fury.
Joshua and Fury are both past their physical primes, at 36 (Joshua) and 37 (Fury), but there is still a strong desire, especially in England, for that fight to happen, even if it may be five years too late. Call it the UK version of Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. So when Alalshikh was interviewed before the Fury fight and said there was going to be a “big announcement” after the fight, the world was waiting to see if Joshua vs. Fury was officially signed on paper.
After Fury beat Makhmudov over 12 rounds of boxing, Alalshikh quickly made his way into the ring as Fury leaned over the ropes and signaled to Joshua to enter. This would’ve led to a faceoff, one that could have broken social media. Then Alalshikh grabbed the mic and told Eddie Hearn to come into the ring. Hearn smiled and did not move. This indicated that the moment the boxing world was anticipating might not happen. It was also Hearn taking a bold stance, letting Alalshikh know that he’s holding all the cards, even though Alalshikh is holding all the money.
After Joshua got to his feet, he sat back down and stayed silent as Fury did all the talking. Joshua then took the mic and told Fury he is the “landlord” and that things happen when he wants them to. This was all an ego tug-of-war, and in the end, there was no faceoff, no real announcement, and the two went their separate ways.
Joshua later gave an interview and said he still hadn’t fully mentally recovered from the accident and needed time to figure things out. I can see that, since he lost his two friends in that accident, and maybe the whole setup by Alalshikh was to pressure Joshua into committing to something he wasn’t ready for at the moment. Just don’t tell Netflix that, as they took to their social media and announced the fight as happening on their streaming platform in the fall.
Although in theory it may have seemed like a slam-dunk announcement and moment, in reality, it missed the mark considerably. Alalshikh looked like a fool for promising something that wasn’t signed and sealed. He looked embarrassed, like a kid who was told for the first time that Santa Claus wasn’t real. This isn’t good for the person who has been making the fights fans want to see while evading boxing politics with his checkbook. But this is another lesson for him that boxing will be boxing at times, and even though you may think you’re in control, they’ll find a way to tell you that you aren’t, even if it means destroying something that has been good for the sport.
Discover more from Fights Around The World
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
