Joseph Parker is confident Tyson Fury only needs ‘six to eight weeks’ to get himself in top condition to fight Anthony Joshua this year.
Not for the first time in his career, ‘The Gypsy King’ announced his retirement from boxing in January following his second consecutive defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
Fury and Usyk went to war twice in the space of seven months – the two biggest heavyweight fights in recent memory – with the Ukrainian coming out on top on both occasions.
The Briton has this week teased a return to the ring, back in the gym with his trainer SugarHill Steward and insisting he wants to fight Usyk for a third time.
A long-awaited Battle of Britain with Joshua also remains an option with Eddie Hearn this week insisting they are still ready to make a deal.
While Fury has spent 2025 out of the boxing spotlight with his family, it has been even longer since we have seen Joshua in the ring having not fought since his bruising defeat to Daniel Dubois at Wembley last September.
Parker, a close friend of Fury’s having trained alongside him for many years, believes Fury’s time away from the sport this will not impact any plans to make that fight happen this year.
Joe Parker was speaking exclusively to Metro thanks to CasinoHawks, who offer the latest UK casino sites, Parker said: ‘Tyson Fury has had the more recent fight over Anthony Joshua, therefore Joshua has been out longer.
‘In my opinion, if they keep themselves fit – it shouldn’t take that long to get you ready to fight. You have sparring, work with your coach, your road runs, pad work and that should take you between six to eight weeks.’
Any meeting between Fury and Joshua this year is very unlikely to have a world title at stake with the belts tied up between Usyk and Daniel Dubois ahead of their undisputed showdown in London in July.
There is also a queue of fighters waiting for their chance to challenge for the belts once the dust settles on that rematch – with Parker at the front of it.
Titles or not, Parker insists Fury vs Joshua remains one of the biggest fights in the sport.
‘Tyson Fury has done everything there is to do in the sport. He has made a lot of money and is now spending a lot of quality time with his family,’ Parker continued.
‘If he does want to return, he can. A lot of people would still like to see him fight . He is an entertainer and says a lot of things to get people’s attention. If it’s a fight with Joshua or Usyk, I’m sure a lot of people will be dying to see these fights.’
Parker has been on an incredible run over the last two years, racking up wins over Deontay Wilder and Zilei Zhang to catapult him right back into the world title conversation.
He was set to challenge Dubois for his IBF title in February only for the Londoner to withdraw from the fight due to illness with Parker blasting through late stand-in Martin Bakole in two rounds.
Parker is also the WBO interim champion and is next in line to fight the winner of Usyk vs Dubois after their rematch.
While the WBO have confirmed Parker is the next mandatory challenger for the titles, the New Zealander is still waiting for that to be ‘locked in’.
‘It’s great to have these reports that tell you you’re going to be the mandatory challenger,’ he said. ‘However, if we can expand on it and get something solid and locked in where I will be able to fight the winner it will be fantastic and a dream come true. I hope it can happen and come through.’
The blockbuster at Wembley between Dubois and Usyk this summer means Parker will have to wait until the second half of 2025 at the earliest to get his title shot.
But rather than put his feet up and wait on the sidelines, the 33-year-old insists he wants to fight in the meantime and continue building on the huge momentum he is riding.
‘I would like to fight sometime soon and keep busy,’ Parker said. ‘I know every fight is a risk where you may win and may lose. I want to keep fighting, progressing and keep busy. Hopefully we can get a fight very soon so I can get into camp, keep progressing and keep the good flow going.’