“Joshua, where are you? Still no deal done. It’s getting quite tiring,” Fury said in a video shared by DAZN Boxing. “I’ve said yes every single time, zero stipulations. I feel like you’re being a coward. I feel like you don’t want the fight and you’re just conning everybody. I feel like you’ve been doing that for years.
“You’ve had many opportunities to fight me, but deep down you never really wanted it.”
The accusation skips over an important distinction. Joshua signed an agreement for the bout to take place in the UK. The organizers later chose New York, leaving Matchroom to negotiate an amendment covering the new location and its financial consequences.
That is not the same as Joshua rejecting the contest. Moving the event to the United States changes his tax exposure, travel requirements, and commercial terms. Fury may be willing to accept those conditions without complaint, but that does not make the original agreement binding under an entirely different set of circumstances.
Madison Square Garden also carries an ugly association for Joshua. His only appearance there ended with Andy Ruiz Jr. dropping him four times and stopping him in the seventh round in June 2019. Fury knows the history and can use the return to New York as another psychological weapon, although there is no evidence that Joshua’s reluctance is connected to the venue itself.
The “zero stipulations” claim gives Fury an easy position from which to attack. If the New York arrangement leaves his earnings intact, accepting it costs him little. Joshua may take home considerably less unless the revised package covers the difference.
Still, Joshua and Eddie Hearn have limited time to settle the issue. The proposed date is less than three months away, and continued bargaining gives Fury more ammunition to depict every delay as another escape.
After nearly a decade of failed discussions, the unsigned amendment has become another opportunity for Fury to question Joshua’s intentions. He has turned a contractual disagreement into a public challenge to his rival’s courage.
