Anthony Joshua has not fought for a year, since he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois, but has now taken to social media to call out Tyson Fury

Anthony Joshua speaks out(Image: Getty Images)

Anthony Joshua has demanded a fight with Tyson Fury in a rare public call-out of his fellow Brit.

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Joshua has not fought since he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in the fifth round of their Wembley clash last September. The former world champion has since undergone elbow surgery but has returned to training and is expected to fight again in the first part of 2026.

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Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn expects his fighter to have a warm-up but before the prospect of taking on Fury – but Joshua may have other ideas. Following a press conference for Joseph Parker’s October showdown with Fabio Wardley, the 2012 Olympic champion took to social media with a mocking message to his rival.

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“I can’t lie, I’m proud of Joseph Parker,” he wrote. “Even though he is a competitor, real recognises real. He’s in the game to fight whoever, whenever and that’s the DNA of a real general. Unlike his dippy mate Tyson Fury. I would dissect his career/record in minutes but I’ll leave that for a potential Gloves Are Off if he ever comes back and fights Big Femi.

“Fabio Wardley, respect to you as well. Bro was working in recruitment helping your dad get a job a couple of years ago. Let that be a testament to God rooting in one’s favour and a statement to show, nothing is impossible (if you can have a scrap haha).

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“To my supporters, I’ll be back to lace up my boots and put on my gloves sooner than later, hopefully punching Fury’s head in and dancing around his flicker jab with ease.”

Joshua had been in talks to fight Jake Paul but the social media star has opted to take on Gervonta Davis in November instead, despite being more than four stone heavier than the lightweight world champion. Paul insists he still wants to fight Joshua next year, but Hearn expects his man to take another route.

“We’ve got to choose carefully for the next fight and I think the best way in all of this is just to be honest and say the next fight will be a comeback fight to build into a roll of the dice next summer,” Hearn said. “We want that to be against Tyson Fury. If it’s not, it’s going to be a massive fight.”

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Fury has not fought since he was outpointed for a second time by Oleksandr Usyk last December. The Traveller announced his retirement shortly after the rematch but predictably reversed his decision weeks later. He is not expected to return to the ring until next year given his filming commitments with Netflix.