Tyson Fury has confirmed he plans to return to the ring in August for a warm-up fight ahead of his long-awaited clash with Anthony Joshua. The British heavyweights have signed to fight each other later this year, with Wembley Stadium the frontrunner to host the contest in October or November.
Speaking on FurociTV, Fury said: “So, my fight plan this year is three fights. So it will be April, August, and whenever the big fight’s announced – either October, November.” He added that the opponent is not yet known but stressed: “It’s never about the opponent; it’s just about me versus me, always.”
Fury, 37, last fought in April, easing past Arslanbek Makhmudov on points after coming out of retirement for the fifth time. His previous outing was a points loss to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024, his second successive defeat by the Ukrainian and only his second loss overall.
Promoter Frank Warren confirmed last week that Fury wants to fight before facing Joshua, ruling out a rumoured bout against Andy Ruiz Jr. “He doesn’t want to be back in the ring by November, which I think will be a gap of about seven or eight months,” Warren said. “He wants to fight, he doesn’t want to be rusty again.”
Joshua is scheduled to face Kristian Prenga in a warm-up fight in Saudi Arabia on 25 July. The priority for all parties is to ensure the super-fight finally goes ahead, having been signed once before in 2021 before Deontay Wilder’s legal action forced a trilogy bout with Fury.
