Anthony Joshua admits the end is nigh – so Tyson Fury fight must come soon

Anthony Joshua is making a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury a priority in 2025 after admitting, at the Ring Awards in London, that the end of his career is nigh.

The 35-year-old had two fights last year, spectacularly knocking out Francis Ngannou in February before a humbling stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois six months later. Since that September reverse, which saw Joshua’s record drop to 28-4 (25 KOs), there has been plenty of soul searching from the former heavyweight champion. Now he’s determined to make the most of the time he has left in the sport – and that includes a showdown with his longstanding rival, Fury.

“It’s a fight that I want to see, I’m a boxing fan, I want to get that out of the way,” Joshua said. “The reason why I decided to do some interesting stuff is that I ain’t got many years ahead of me – I got more years behind me than I have in front of me. I want to leave the game with a bang, make an impact, be outlandish, great character, have fun with it while we’re doing it and go for the big fights – Tyson Fury is one of them.

“Every time I see people – the Irish community, the English community, the Nigerian community – everyone is asking me the same question. So as a fighter it’s up to me to deliver. It has to happen this year, especially with His Excellency – Turki – DAZN, Eddie [Hearn], Matchroom, 258 behind me, and I’m sure with him [Fury] being managed by Spencer [Brown] and Goldstar now, I think we can definitely make this fight happen.”