Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have had parallel careers in the heavyweight division.
These two British boxing greats have long been the poster boys of the sport without ever having fought each other.
It was ‘The Gypsy King’ who emerged first and was the first of the two to become a world champion. He did so with a famous away win in Germany when he outpointed the long ruling unified champion Wladimir Klitschko back in 2015.
Following that win, Fury took time out to deal with personal problems and that’s when Joshua rose through the ranks to become a unified champion himself, first by beating Charles Martin, then with a victory of his own over Klitshcko.
Fury returned to the ring and picked up the WBC title after two wins and a draw against Deontay Wilder, and many people have hoped they would share a ring in the years since, though it has not yet happened.
Both men have now suffered two losses to the divisional ruler Oleksandr Usyk which it was hoped would mean their best option now would be to finally fight each other.
However, Fury’s retirement announcement at the start of January rather put paid to that possibility.
Speaking to Queensberry Promotions, Joshua was asked to give one-word responses to pictures of several of his rivals. When a picture of Fury came up he didn’t hesitate.
“Bluffer.”
Many in the sport are hoping that Joshua’s description of Fury is proven right about his latest retirement announcement, with a clash between the two still being one of the biggest fights in boxing.
