Former world champion George Groves believes Tyson Fury will come out of retirement to face Anthony Joshua in a blockbuster heavyweight clash, The PUNCH reports.

Fury announced his retirement on Monday following back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk, but Groves suspects it’s a negotiation tactic rather than a final decision.

“I reckon it’s a negotiation tactic, maybe it’s a mind game thing with Anthony Joshua,” Groves told SunSport.

“I mean there probably is a significant part of him that thinks, ‘Oh I want to retire.’ And he might be speaking it into existence. But I don’t think he wants to retire.”

Anthony Joshua admits hopes for ‘big’ fight with Tyson Fury in 2025 – ‘It has to happen this year’

All eyes are on Tyson Fury’s next move after last month’s defeat to Oleksandr Usyk. ‘The Gypsy King’ has insisted there is more to come despite his second career defeat, and Anthony Joshua has now set his sights on a clash with Fury later this year. Joshua insisted he and his team “can definitely make this fight happen”, revealing how he has got back on track after taking a break from boxing.

There has been incessant talk since about the prospect of a clash between Fury and Joshua, and the latter has now added more fuel to the fire.

“It’s a fight that I want to see,” Joshua said at The Ring Magazine Awards. “I’m a fan of boxing so I want to get that fight underway.

“When I’m in the gym everyone’s asking me, and the reason why I decided to do some interesting stuff is because I ain’t got many years ahead of me. I’ve had more years behind me.

“So what I want to do is leave the game with a bang and make an impact, be outlandish, great character, have fun with it while we’re doing it and go for the big fights, and Tyson Fury is one of them.

“Every time I see people they say ‘When are you fighting Fury?’. We’re talking about the Irish community, the English community, the Nigerian community, everyone’s asking me the same question.

“As a fighter, it’s up to me to deliver, and that’s why I’m saying it has to happen this year. Especially with His Excellency, Turki [Alalshikh], DAZN, Eddie [Hearn], Matchroom, and 258 behind me, we can definitely make this fight happen.”

Heavyweight Anthony Joshua says a fight with Tyson Fury “has to happen this year” as he looks to book his next bout.

A fight between the two British rivals has been spoken about for years, but has never come to fruition.

But with both men coming back from defeats in world title fights, Joshua confirmed Fury was the opponent he wanted to face next.

“It’s a fight I want to see because I am a fan of boxing. When I am in the gym, everyone is asking me [about this fight]. I ain’t got many years ahead of me. I want to leave the game with a bang and make an impact,” Joshua said.

“Everyone is asking me the same question. It’s up to me to deliver, that’s why I’m saying it has to happen this year.

“I think we can make this fight happen.”

Joshua was speaking at the Ring Magazine awards in London, where Oleksandr Usyk was also in attendance.

While speaking about Fury, Joshua admitted no talks had yet taken place with Fury’s team about a potential fight.

Fury lost to unified world champion Usyk in December while Joshua was stopped by IBF title holder Daniel Dubois in his most recent outing in September.

Chris Eubank Jr was also in attendance alongside his own rival Conor Benn.

Benn and Eubank Jr have held lengthy talks about their fight ever since Benn’s anti-doping suspension was officially lifted in November.

The camps have disagreed about the purse split, but Eubank Jr says the bout remains on track to happen in 2025.

“That fight will happen,” Eubank Jr said.

“We’re in negotiations and they are going very well. We’re at the last few things we’ve got to smooth out and then the fight will get announced. So yeah, big things are happening very soon.”

Tyson Fury would be a “massive favourite” against Anthony Joshua if the heavyweights fight this year, says former world super-featherweight champion Barry Jones.

British rivals Joshua and Fury have long been linked with fighting each other and are both coming off defeats in world title bouts.

Fury, 36, has already said he has no plans to retire following his loss to Oleksandr Usyk and Jones believes the Gypsy King showed against Usyk he has “plenty left” to give to boxing.

“Fury is a massive favourite but I think in general he was always a slight favourite [against Joshua],” Jones told the 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce podcast.

“He’ll want the Joshua fight because he’s almost beaten every fighter of his generation. It might be a different Joshua but it’s a different Fury.

“I think to get Joshua on his record in years to come will show how good he is.”

Jones believes the fight will happen in a stadium in the UK, but boxing expert Bunce disagrees.

Joshua, 35, was stopped by Daniel Dubois in their IBF world title fight last September, while Fury was outboxed by Usyk in a points defeat in December.

Bunce says another loss would be a massive blow to either man.

“The loser has a massive amount to lose,” Bunce said.

“Fury can lose to Usyk again no problem, Joshua can lose to Dubois again no problem.

“I just think this is a monumental fight, the loser of that drops a lot of ground pride-wise.”

‘I can’t see how Jonas beats Price’

Welterweight world champions Lauren Price and Natasha Jonas collide on 7 March in the first all-British unification fight of 2025.

Unbeaten Welshwoman Price, the WBA champion, challenges Jonas for her WBC and IBF titles.

Jones says 30 year-old Price is the favourite against Jonas, who at 40 became a two-weight unified champion last December.

“Jonas is a fighter in form, but I think Lauren Price is wrong for her in every facet,” Jones said.

“Price is not the biggest puncher but she’s strong, fast hands and stylistically it’s a hard fight for Natasha at her peak so now, she knows it’s a not a fight she would [have wanted to] take.”

“I think Price can be braver with her movement and although it will be an entertaining fight, I can’t see how Natasha wins.”

Former world super-featherweight champion Barry Jones has weighed in on the much-anticipated heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, tipping Fury as the clear favorite if the fight happens this year.

Speaking on the 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce podcast, Jones highlighted Fury’s impressive performance against Oleksandr Usyk despite his recent loss and suggested the Gypsy King still has plenty to offer in the sport.

“Fury is a massive favourite but I think in general he was always a slight favourite [against Joshua],” Jones said.

“He’ll want the Joshua fight because he’s almost beaten every fighter of his generation. It might be a different Joshua, but it’s a different Fury.”

“I think to get Joshua on his record in years to come will show how good he is.”

Potential Venues and Stakes

While Jones predicts the fight will take place in a UK stadium, boxing expert Steve Bunce is skeptic about it. Both fighters are under immense pressure, with their legacies and pride on the line.

Bunce stated: “The loser has a massive amount to lose. Fury can lose to Usyk again no problem, Joshua can lose to Dubois again no problem. I just think this is a monumental fight.”

“The loser of that drops a lot of ground pride-wise.”

Recent Form of Both Fighters

Fury, 36, is coming off a points defeat to Usyk in December but has stated he has no intention of retiring.

Joshua, 35, suffered a stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois in an IBF world title fight last September, casting doubts over his ability to reclaim top status in the division.

With both fighters facing critical moments in their careers, a Fury-Joshua matchup could serve as a definitive test of their standing among the heavyweight elite.

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are no longer world champions but a fight between the two is still of huge interest to fans.

Joshua is a former two-time world heavyweight belt holder who also unified the division. He had big wins over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker but took an upset loss to Andy Ruiz in 2019 that first derailed him.

After rebuilding, it was then Olekansdr Usyk who relieved him of all of his belts in 2021 and since then Joshua had another shot at the IBF title held by Daniel Dubois but ended up getting stopped back in September.

Fury meanwhile had an epic trilogy with Deontay Wilder which saw him pick up and defend the WBC title before stopping the likes of Whyte and Derek Chisora. Back in May he challenged Usyk for the undisputed title but fell short on points and then lost again to the same man in the rematch in late December.

When asked by Sports Boom about a potential all-British clash with Fury, Joshua seemed optimistic.

“it has to happen.”

He then added more positivity.

“And hopefully, it does happen.”

This fight has been on the cards for many years, often while both men were holding version of the world title, but it has so far always sadly eluded fans.

Were it to happen this year, potentially as one final hurrah for both men, it would be a legacy fight that would see the winner going down as one of the best of the era despite there being no belts on the line.

Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury now looks likely for 2025.

The battle of Britain has eluded fans for many years and is now undoubtedly past its best before date, however it will still be a mega-fight that can fill a stadium.

Why it could happen now is because both men are out of the title picture and looking for big fights before retirement. Joshua lost twice to Oleksandr Usyk before going on a run of four wins to get a shot at Daniel Dubois’ IBF world title. He was knocked out in five. Fury has recently suffered the same fate against Usyk, failing to beat the Ukrainian over 24 rounds.

It is now widely agreed that the match-up is the best out there for both men. How it plays out is anybody’s guess, but there are some shared opponents who can provide good insight.

Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin took Fury the distance back in 2019, inflicting a near-fight ending cut on the Brit before losing on the scorecards. After a run of six victories, he faced Joshua but was stopped inside five rounds.

Speaking to Sun Sport with the experiences of facing both, Wallin gave ‘AJ’ a good chance but said he can’t back against ‘The Gypsy King.’

“I feel like Joshua is a very good fighter, very good power, very good counter puncher. I feel like he definitely has a shot with Fury. And you just never know what Tyson Fury shows up. I still have a hard time going against Tyson in that fight.

But, the fights if you compare it my fight against Joshua was a lot tougher than the one I had against Fury. That doesn’t mean everything but I give Joshua more of a chance than I did before. But I still would probably pick Fury as the favourite.”

Wallin returns to action against Derek Chisora on February 8 in Manchester.