Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua negotiations enter critical week with ongoing talks about staging fight in New York
Tyson Fury has teased an Anthony Joshua fight announcement on social media; The British heavyweight rivals are yet to finalise terms for a fight; Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn is keen for the bout to be held in the UK but New York is now being discussed as a location
Tuesday 18 August 2026 14:25, UK
Negotiations for the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight have entered a 'critical week' with talks ongoing about staging the heavyweight clash in New York.
The British stars are set to finally share the ring this year, although an official announcement has been delayed over discussion about the location of the fight, with Madison Square Garden now emerging as the likely venue.
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed how the original fight contract stipulated that the bout would be staged in the UK, but fresh negotiations are taking place amid growing optimism that the blockbuster battle will be confirmed for later this year.
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Frank Smith, Matchroom Boxing CEO, told Sky Sports: "It will disappointing for it not to be in the UK, but at the same time if it means seeing the fight, we all want to see that fight happen. Let's see how things play out.
"There's obviously been suggestions and discussions about New York. AJ has fought there before. AJ has fought all around the world. We're following the terms of what we signed up to right now, which is a fight in the UK. That is what we signed up to and when the fight was announced in March, April time, the fight was signed, those were the terms we signed up for.
"They are the conversations really that are taking place right now. MSG is a proposed venue that they would like to look at, i.e The Ring Magazine, Saudi delegation, so let's see.
"I think November is possible. Later in November is possible, but again the next seven to 10 days, a lot of progress has got to be made in order to make that happen to get [fighters] into camp to give yourself that eight to 10 week period, a dedicated camp away from all the promotional obligations.
"The pressure is on over the next week to get it done."
Asked if the next week is 'critical', Smith added: "I would say 100 per cent. It's never easy putting timeframes on things but when it comes to the date of it actually happening, the next week or so we need to get things together."
Both fighters sharpened their skills in warm-up fights last month as Fury sealed a seventh-round stoppage of Mariusz Wach before Joshua knocked out Kristian Prenga after recovering from an early knockdown.
"We're all focused on making it happen," said Smith. "We're all focused on getting the final details together but some work still to be done.
"Lots of discussions ongoing. Lots of conversations happening right now. I'm confident that the fight will happen.
"I'm very confident we will see that fight and AJ will knock out Tyson Fury this year."
Fury teases AJ fight 'It's the one you've all been waiting for!
Fury had earlier teased that a fight announcement was 'imminent', a few hours after Netflix had run a promotional video during its WWE coverage with the closing tagline that the event was 'coming soon.'
Speaking on his official Instagram, Fury had said: "Everything is going well. I've got some big news going to be dropped very soon. All is good in the hood. Big fight on the horizon.
"It's the one you've all been waiting for about to be announced imminently, so stay tuned."
