Tyson Fury has appeared to confirm that he has signed with Turki Alalshikh as his new promoter ahead of the super-fight with Anthony Joshua. The Gypsy King has publicly talked up the Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) in a series of social media posts and seemingly ended a long-running partnership with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions.
Fury's Social Media Announcement
The 37-year-old ruled that Alalshikh will be his promoter 'till he dies' less than 24 hours after rubbing shoulders with Zuffa Boxing honcho Dana White at the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) for their Freedom 250 event, held at the White House in Washington D.C. Fury failed to be drawn on announcing news, despite an announcement being talked up, as the Gypsy King handed over the responsibility to White. However, on social media, the heavyweight broke the news with a number of Instagram stories.
He posted a series of pictures alongside the Saudi honcho, one was captioned: "@turki the promtor (sic) of the GK (Gypsy King). Till I retire." As well as another posing with Alalshikh with the caption: "@turki my promotor (sic)." His final post featured an image squaring up with heavyweight rival Joshua ahead of their fight. He wrote: "Bigest (sic) fight in boxing by a mile."
Superfight Gaining Momentum
The news of a change in promoter comes as the superfight between Fury and Joshua gathers momentum. In April, Eddie Hearn, the chief behind the former heavyweight champion, revealed that a deal had been signed for the two British heavyweight juggernauts to finally meet in the ring. Before the two meet, the fighters have scheduled tune up fights in order to be in fine fettle come the moment they face off. Fury beat Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April while Joshua is expected to return next month against Kristian Prenga in Jeddah.
Warren had hoped to announce Fury's next warm-up fight at the beginning of June. He told Sky Sports: "We'll hopefully be in a position to announce it next week, that's what we're looking to do. So keep watching this space, and it'll be a good opponent - it'll be good for him. He can't afford to slip up, because obviously AJ's got his fight in a few weeks' time. [Joshua's] got to come through that, Tyson has to come through his, and then the big one will be in November."
Seismic Shift in Boxing
Should the news be true that Fury has made the move over to Zuffa Boxing, it will be another seismic shift for the sport after Conor Benn made the shock decision to leave Matchroom Boxing for the new promotion. Both Hearn and White, the co-founder of Zuffa, have been at loggerheads in recent months as a war of worlds continues to bubble on with the prospect of Fury's fight with Joshua looming.
The 37-year-old made the trip to the American capital immediately after watching his brother Tommy Fury beat weightlifter-turned-boxer Eddie Hall on the Misfits card in Manchester. When asked about whether Fury's appearance in Washington was in relation to signing a deal with the promotion, he said: "We'll make an announcement soon." "Listen, let me reiterate. Judge me January 1, 2027 on what we have done this year with boxing," he added.
