SATURDAY night saw British boxing at its best. The country was captivated by an old-school dust-up and rivalry, steeped in history, controversy and hatred.
Come fight night, a sold-out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium watched in fascination as Chris Eubank Jr battled through an uncomfortable weight cut to claim the unanimous decision in a Fight of the Year contender with Conor Benn. Now, another long-awaited British showdown could be around the corner. Tyson Fury has teased a boxing comeback.
Fury, 34-2-1 (24 KOs), has been linked to a clash with Anthony Joshua, 28-4 (25 KOs), throughout his career. British fight fans have been left unsure about which of the pair is worthy of being labelled as the greatest British heavyweight of this generation.
However, Fury is now 36 and Joshua is 35. With neither holding a world title and both coming off the back of defeats, dreams of finally witnessing another ‘Battle of Britain’ began to fade. Any hopes were ultimately ended in the eyes of some boxing observeres when ‘The Gypsy King’ announced his retirement earlier in this year.
Yet, Fury’s ‘hanging up the gloves’ is not the final blow that it would be from other fighters in the sport. With this being the fifth ‘retirement’ of his career, a glimmer of hope remained.
Now that glimmer has grown tenfold, as Tyson Fury seemed to U-turn on his decision to walk away from boxing once again. Speaking through his Instagram, filming both himself and trainer SugarHill Steward in the gym, Fury teased a return to action and a possible scrap with ‘AJ’.
“Just in the gym and I happened to bump into somebody that you might know. We are back, you know what is coming.”
Meanwhile, Joshua has been quietly sitting on the sidelines since he was knocked out cold by Daniel Dubois during an attempt to become boxing’s fifth three-time heavyweight world champion back in September. Joshua is likely awaiting a decision from Fury or for the titles to become fragmented.
On X, it seemed as though Eubank-Benn also got the juices flowing for the Londoner, claiming that the fight ‘made him proud to be British’. The fight could potentially tempt him further into a similar contest with his long-term rival.
Despite the lack of a title on the line, interest in Fury-Joshua is still prevalent in Britain and around the globe. Whether Turki Al-Alshikh is willing to put up the monumental finances to stage such an event remains to be seen.
