At long last, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua stood side-by-side with the boxing world now counting the days until their Battle of Britain.
The giants of British boxing shared the stage at a rather cordial press conference on Wednesday evening, exchanging a few jokes and even discussing a few post-fight pints once the dust settles in Cardiff on 11 December.
Perhaps the most notable line from the evening was Joshua’s revelation that he has been in contact with Fury’s uncle Peter, who could have a role to play in his fight camp in the coming weeks and months.
‘I speak to Peter Fury,’ Joshua said. ‘He’s willing to help me as well. Me and Peter get along.’
Asked what sort of intel he might get from Fury the trainer, Joshua added: ‘Yeah, but not about Fury, but our training and our approach, how I can approach the fight. Not sort of, “Fury does this”; it was more, “I’ve seen what you do”, and this is where he thinks he can improve’.
Peter Fury trained ‘The Gypsy King’ when he famously conquered Wladimir Klitschko to win his first world titles in 2015. The two fell out soon afterwards and are not thought to have spoken in years. There has been no public mudslinging, no bitter war of words. But the relationship appears to have been non-existent for over a decade.
Joshua’s comments got a reaction out of Fury, who insisted there was no Corleone family-style treachery in the family. ‘This is the biggest BS I’ve ever seen. No Fredo here guys,’ he wrote on Instagram.
There was also confirmation that Ben Davison will be Joshua’s lead trainer for this fight. Davison has previously worked with Fury with Josh Taylor, Leigh Wood, Fabio Wardley and Moses Itauma among the high-profile fighters who have placed their faith in the 33-year-old.
Davison’s methods came under the microscope in Itauma’s devastating defeat to Filip Hrgovic in August when the young lion punched himself out to the point of exhaustion midway through the fight.
Davison’s role also came under scrutiny during Joshua’s brutal defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, the last time the Olympian competed for major honours.
Davison retains the belief and backing of some of the country’s biggest names and will be by AJ’s side in December. He may also have some insider information to unleash having once stood in Fury’s corner, helping him as he returned to the sport after three years out of the ring in 2018. They worked together for five fights before Fury turned to Sugar Hill Steward, the man who has guided him ever since.
Fury initially seemed taken aback about the Davison news. ‘Is it confirmed? Is he gonna have him?’
But the former WBC champion was then quick to shoot down suggestions of it handing his rival any advantage, insisting it makes Joshua look ‘mentally weak.’
‘Don’t forget I left Ben Davison to go with SugarHill [Steward] because he wasn’t good enough,’ Fury said. ‘And this is the same Ben Davison who Anthony Joshua left because he wasn’t good enough,’ Fury added, referring Joshua’s decision to briefly link up with Oleksandr Usyk’s camp following the Dubois defeat.
There were the usual taunts and promises of pain on Wednesday but it rarely felt venomous between the two legends of the sport who have now begun the final chapter of their careers. But there is plenty of time for that to change.