Anticipation for the all-British clash is probably at an all-time low, but money is still there to be made

It’s just a few short years ago that a meeting between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua would have been the biggest heavyweight fight to ever take place.

Arguably Britain’s two best ever fighters in the division going against each other at the peak of their powers.

Alas, as is always the case in professional boxing, the two parties couldn’t come to an agreement and fans were left wanting.

Both Fury and Joshua went their separate ways. Joshua took on Oleksandr Usyk and lost his heavyweight title whilst the Gypsy King fought Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora, much to the chagrin of boxing fans.

Then Fury embarked on a money-spinning bout with Francis Ngannou before losing his own heavyweight belts to Usyk in a unification matchup.

Many are awaiting a rematch with Usyk at this stage, however plans for a Fury/Joshua match are now also in the works.

Is it a fight coming too late?

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Joshua, to his credit, has bounced back from two successive defeats to Usyk and has brought back some of his notorious knockout power, laying Francis Ngannou out in sensational fashion.

His next opponent is fellow British heavyweight, Daniel Dubois, who perhaps came closest to defeating Usyk since he became the champion, dropping the Ukrainian with a perfect body shot, only for the referee to judge it to be a low-blow.

Yet, plans are in motion to have Fury meet Joshua in Saudi Arabia, and whilst boxing fans are being cheated out of a matchup between the two in their prime, there is still a lot of money on offer.

Saudi Arabia’s move into boxing has vastly increased the money on offer for fighters at the very top of the sport, and whilst it is true that the influence of this state-funded enterprise has brought more boxers to face their rivals at the right time, it also makes events seem bigger than they actually are.

Joshua and Fury would be one such instance. Nobody is really interested anymore, unless Joshua defeats Dubois comfortably and Fury can reclaim all the heavyweight belts in Riyadh in December when he takes on Usyk in a rematch.

Perhaps that will set the stage for a classic ‘Battle of Britain’ but even then, it seems like it will be a stretch.

Despite this, Turki Alalshikh of the General Entertainment Authority is adamant the fight will take place.

“”If Usyk wins, still I want to see Fury versus Joshua if they accept. I will not try to do the third fight [between Usyk and Joshua] before having Fury versus Joshua,” Alalshikh told talkSPORT.

“I think Joshua will win [against Dubois] but you don’t know. I picked Deontay Wilder against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, and he lost. This is boxing, especially the heavyweights.

“But I want to see Fury versus Joshua and the world wants to see Fury versus Joshua.”