Fury and Joshua have been on a collision course for years. But the fight never came together. AJ lost his belts to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, and Fury got tied up in a trilogy with Deontay Wilder. Since then, Joshua lost twice to Oleksandr Usyk before bouncing back with wins over Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.
Fury's focus is now on Usyk. The Ukrainian beat him by split decision in their first clash. Now, Fury's getting ready for a rematch in December.
In an interview on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Fury laid out his plans:
"You know, at this level, when I beat Usyk next time, God willing I do what I believe I can do, my own promoter said to me today, you win this then you're back on top and there's no talking point. I said no Frank, when I win this fight with Usyk there has to be a third fight. If you win one and I win one, there has to be a third fight to see who is the best out of us two, one each, one decider, that's what I'll look for after that. Then when that's done, February, March time, I'll look for the winner of 'AJ' and Dubois."
So, Fury wants to beat Usyk, have a third fight with him, and then face the winner of Joshua vs Dubois. But there's a catch – Joshua just lost to Dubois by KO in September.
At first, they planned an immediate rematch. But injuries got in the way. Now Dubois will defend his title in February. Eddie Hearn says Joshua could fight for the belt in summer. But Frank Warren says that's not possible because of a mandatory challenger.
If Fury loses to Usyk again, Hearn thinks he might want to fight Joshua right away. But for now, Fury's got his sights set on Usyk and settling that score first.