‘Joshua warm-up defeat would scupper Fury fight’

Tyson Fury could take an interim fight before facing Anthony Joshua, but the long-awaited heavyweight showdown will not happen if Joshua loses his warm-up bout in July, says promoter Frank Warren.

Britons Fury and Joshua – both two-time world champions – have signed a deal to fight this year.

But Joshua, 36, must first get past little-known Albanian Kristian Prenga on 25 July in Saudi Arabia.

“If he loses to this guy, it kills the fight,” Warren told BBC Sport.

The head of Queensberry Promotions, which represents 37-year-old Fury, said the ‘Gypsy King’ will earn a career-high payday against Joshua, surpassing the reported £80m he earned against Oleksandr Usyk in 2024.

But Warren said Fury does not want too much time out of the ring and may fight before facing Joshua in “late October” at the earliest.

Fury returned from a 15-month lay-off with a points win over Arslanbek Makhmudov in London on 11 April.

“Tyson wants to keep busy. That’s the mentality he has. When he’s in the gym, he goes to the gym for his mental wellbeing, as well as physically,” Warren said.

“He needs focus, a date when he’s going to fight, and at the moment we don’t have that date.”

Warren said he expects the loser of a Fury-Joshua bout to retire, or both may hang up the gloves after the one-fight deal.

“Tyson has made it very plain he’d like to fight [undisputed champion Oleksandr] Usyk again, so maybe that could be an option,” Warren said.

Warren did not rule out the Fury-Joshua bout being held in Saudi Arabia, which is funding the fight, but he wants it to take place at Wembley Stadium.

“That’s where everybody would like to see the fight,” Warren said.

“It’s the national stadium – that is where it belongs. We’ve had some great nights there in the past and that makes a lot of sense.”