After months of uncertainty, the Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury heavyweight showdown is finally on the horizon, with both fighters set to win their respective bouts in Thailand and Saudi Arabia this week.
Tyson Fury will face Mariusz Wach, a 46-year-old former title challenger, at a small event in Thailand on Friday morning, UK time. The only belt on the line will be a special humanitarian strap courtesy of the WBC. Fury said the fight will not be streamed live, but instead will be broadcast on his Netflix TV show "At Home With The Furys" season three, with no release date announced.
In a bizarre twist, Fury's bout against Wach will not be a conventional fight. Fury will be boxing for a charitable cause, and the only belt on the line will be a humanitarian one. Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua will face Kristian Prenga at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia around 36 hours later. Joshua, a former two-time champion, is fighting for the first time since surviving a fatal car crash in December.
Joshua's opponent, Prenga, is an Albanian relative unknown, making him an even humbler opponent than Wach. However, Joshua must win at all costs, and he is also fighting for the first time since the car crash that killed two of his teammates. Joshua's last fight was a sixth-round stoppage of YouTuber Jake Paul, but some might argue that Fury's points win over Arslanbek Makhmudov in April would have sufficed as a warm-up for his long-awaited clash with Joshua.
Fury and Joshua have been on a near-decade-long trend of misalignment. The two heavyweights have never been on the same page, despite signing similar contracts recently. When Fury quit boxing, Joshua was a champion, and when Oleksandr Usyk ended Joshua's last reign, Fury was a champion. In the middle of all this, during Covid, Joshua and Fury actually did sign to fight each other, only for Deontay Wilder to threaten legal action and force a trilogy bout out of Fury.
The situation remains unclear, with Fury suggesting he will head home after boxing Wach. It remains to be seen whether Fury will travel to Saudi Arabia to face off with Joshua on Saturday, and whether there will be fresh talk of amended contracts. Meanwhile, the eyes of the boxing world will be on Thailand and Saudi Arabia this week, as the stage is set for the highly anticipated showdown between Fury and Joshua.
Source: Yahoo Sports