Tyson Fury urges Anthony Joshua to keep winning ahead of potential future fight

Tyson Fury has emphasised facing Anthony Joshua is part of the plan for his next few fights if his fellow Briton “keeps going and keeps winning”.

Since being beaten twice by Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022, former world heavyweight champion Joshua has recorded four victories, most recently a second-round knockout win over ex-UFC fighter Francis Ngannou in Riyadh last month.

WBC title-holder Fury is currently preparing for a May 18 clash at the same venue with Usyk, who has the WBA, IBF and WBO belts, to crown the first undisputed world heavyweight champion of the century.

And on Joshua being part of the equation for what lies beyond that, Fury told the PA news agency: “Yeah, for sure – if he keeps going and keeps winning, like I’m going to keep doing.”

He added: “Either way, me and AJ could still fight at Wembley if we were 50 years old and still make a s**t ton of money. I think that’s facts for sure.”

In February, just after the meeting with Usyk had been rescheduled for May, Fury spoke about five fights he had in mind – two with Usyk, then facing Joshua “maybe twice” before a rematch against Ngannou, who he beat via split decision in October.

Fury said that was “just the start…five fights for you to whet your appetite”.

At a press conference in Morecambe on Wednesday, the talk was of 10 fights, with Turki Alalshikh, a Saudi adviser who has helped put on major boxing events, saying via a phonecall that was played out over a top-table microphone: “We want Tyson for five, seven, 10 fights more.”

And Fury told PA: “Ten-fight plan. Ten fights for over a billion dollars – doesn’t sound bad does it?”

Fury, who said he felt Joshua “did really well” against Ngannou, was knocked down by the mixed martial artist in the third round when they fought in October last year.

Regarding that contest, he said: “Just a fight. I had a good training camp, had a good night.

“I go to a place, do my job, get paid, get out of there, come home and that’s how it’s always been, and I’ve been successful at doing that all my career.”

The clash between Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) and fellow unbeaten fighter Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) had originally been scheduled for February 17, but was postponed 15 days prior to that after the former suffered a cut above his right eye in sparring.

Fury at Wednesday’s press conference described himself as being in “fantastic shape” and expressed his confidence he will defeat Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion who made his heavyweight debut in 2019, stressing that “size really matters”.

The 35-year-old added that it was “my time, my destiny, my era and my generation”.

And when asked if the fight was an opportunity to prove a point to people, he told PA: “I don’t really have to prove much to anybody to be honest. My bank balance alone proves I’m a success, and all the titles I’ve won along the way.

“I’m not really proving anybody wrong or right any more, I’m just doing it for the fun and love of the game really.

“I could have retired maybe 10 years ago and lived a very nice life. However, I do it because, let’s face facts, I don’t really have much else to do other than taking the kids to school, emptying the bins and picking up dog s**t.

“But other than that, boxing is my love. I’ll continue to do it until I can’t do any more.”