Fury and Joshua continue talks over date and venue for unification fight

By Sports Desk January 01, 2021

Promoter Frank Warren has revealed talks are ongoing over a date and venue for Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua to meet in a fight that will be "one of the biggest in British boxing history".

The two heavyweights have both made clear they are keen for a lucrative unification showdown, with a two-fight deal previously agreed between both sides for 2021.

However, there are still details to be sorted out, including over exactly where a first bout will be staged, particularly with the continuing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on major sporting events.

Outlining his plans for the coming year in his column for the Daily Star, Warren - whose Queensberry Promotions work with Fury - has no doubts over who will prevail, whenever the event takes place.

"The big one that everyone wants to see is Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua to decide the undisputed heavyweight champion," Warren wrote.

"Talks are continuing as we plan when and where to stage one of the biggest fights in British boxing history.

"Of course, I'm backing Fury to come out on top in that and prove what I believe that he is the best heavyweight in the world right now."

Joshua retained the IBF, WBA and WBO titles in December when he stopped Kubrat Pulev in front of a limited crowd of 1,000 at Wembley Arena.

Fury, meanwhile, holds the WBC belt, having dethroned Deontay Wilder in their rematch last February. He had hoped to fight again before the end of 2020, but was forced to shelve those plans.

Warren confirmed the continued COVID-19 health crisis makes it unclear exactly when fans will be able to be present in big numbers inside venues, but made clear "the planning and plotting continues".

That includes trying to fix a date for Carl Frampton's bid to win a world title a third different weight, 'The Jackal' set to take on WBO super-featherweight champion Jamel Herring as early as February.

Related items

  • Walters rolls back clock with unanimous decision win over Adorno Walters rolls back clock with unanimous decision win over Adorno

    Jamaica’s former WBA featherweight world champion Nicholas “Axe Man” Walters, now campaigning at lightweight, continued his comeback with a 10-round unanimous decision win over Joseph Adorno in the ProBox main event at the Whitesands Events Center in Plant City, Florida, on Wednesday.

    The 38-year-old Walters, who returned from a six-and-a-half-year layoff last year, outworked his opponent for the most parts, as Adorno was also deducted a point for a punch after the bell in round nine.

    Walters’ recent squash matches with hapless Colombian journeymen, one of whom was over 45, might have suggested that this was more of a cash-out than a genuine attempt at a comeback. However, the Panama-based boxer proved that was very much not the case and that he clearly still had plenty in the tank.

    He steadily took apart the 24-year-old Adorno with crisp jabs over the course of 10 rounds.

    At the end, Walters won by scores of 95-94, 97-92, 98-91, as he claimed the WBA Continental Americas lightweight title and improved his ring record to 29 wins, 22 of which are by knockouts. He also has one loss and one draw.

    Adorno’s record has now slipped to 18 wins (15 kos) against four losses and two draws.

    Walters created history by becoming the first Jamaican to win a world boxing title at home, defeating Daulis Prescott via a 7th round TKO victory at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston for the WBA World Featherweight title.

  • Dillian Whyte makes winning return with victory over Christian Hammer Dillian Whyte makes winning return with victory over Christian Hammer

    Dillian Whyte made a winning return to the ring with a three-round victory over Christian Hammer in Ireland.

    The former WBC interim heavyweight champion, fighting for the first time since clearing his name of doping offences, proved too strong for his Romanian-born opponent in Castlebar, County Mayo.

    Hammer failed to get up from his stool for the fourth round, forcing the referee to stop the bout and hand Whyte his 30th professional victory.

    The 35-year-old Briton had not fought since his victory over Jermaine Franklin at Wembley in November 2022.

    He had been lined up to face Anthony Joshua last August but the proposed match-up never happened after Whyte tested positive for a banned substance.

    Whyte protested his innocence and was cleared to resume his career after it was accepted he had consumed a contaminated supplement.

  • Walters to continue comeback with headline bout against American Adorno on March 27 Walters to continue comeback with headline bout against American Adorno on March 27

    Jamaica’s former World Boxing Association (WBA) Super featherweight champion Nicholas “Axe man” Walters is set to continue his comeback later this month, when he squares off with American Joseph Adorno, at the White Sands Events Center in Plant City, Florida.

    Walters, who went into retirement shortly after he lost his unbeaten record to former pound for pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko in a seven-round bout in November 2016, will be hoping to extend his winning momentum on return to the ring for his 2024 debut on Wednesday, March 27. 

    The 38-year-old Walters had comeback victories over Luis Marmol in Colombia February 2023, and Reynaldo Esquivia, nine months later, and another against Adorno would certainly add impetus to his charge going forward.

    Although he doesn’t have a particular opponent that he craves, Walters hopes to get in the mix for big fights after this rust-shedding exercise.

    “My plan is to go down to 135, where the real warriors are fighting – all the big names. Being a world champion at 135 and a double-world champ [is the goal],” Walters said in a previous interview.

    The Panama-based Walters boasts a ring record of 28 wins (22 kos) against one loss and one draw, while Adorno has 18 wins (15 kos) against three losses and two draws.

    Walters had turned pro in 2008 after an amateur career that included bronze at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games and two gold medals at the Caribbean Championships in 2005 and 2006. Within a few years he became one of the world’s most exciting fighters of the lower weight divisions after defeating big names like Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan.

    Originally from Montego Bay on Jamaica’s north coast, Walters became the first Jamaican ever to win a world boxing title at home when he defeated Daulis Prescott via a seventh round TKO to cop the WBA World Featherweight title in December 2012.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.