Tyson Fury has labelled Anthony Joshua a 'coward' as the dispute over the venue for their heavyweight fight continues. Both boxers have signed contracts to face each other, but while Joshua's deal includes a clause requiring the bout to take place in the UK, there is a push to hold it in New York.
Fury: 'Zero stipulations'
The fight is currently pencilled in for November 20, meaning a solution must be found soon. Joshua is reportedly ready to back out if a series of demands are met. Yet no agreement has been reached, and Fury insists his patience is wearing thin.
"There is still no deal done and it's getting quite tiring," he said, via The Mirror. "I've been down to fight in every location that's been mentioned; England, Ireland, Vegas, New York, back to England, back to Ireland, back to New York.
"I've said yes every time with zero stipulations. The facts are, I feel like you're being a coward. I feel like you don't want to 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. So let's see if you're going to man up the final time.
"Let's f***ing fight. It's a boxing match; you've been banjoed before plenty of times. You've been knocked spark out a few times, so what? What's the worst that can happen? I'm going to f***ing chin you, 100 per cent, but it's nothing that hasn't been done before!"
Hearn: 'Running out of time'
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn disclosed earlier this week that one of Joshua's principal requirements - payment of his purse for his victory over Kristian Prenga in July - had been satisfied. "We're all good from the last fight, and we're all moving forward amicably," he said.
"We don't want to do the fight in the US, but we also understand it has to work for everybody.
"We've been banging our head against the wall on that for the last two months. We've set out our position, mainly in concern to the tax situation that will deplete his net purse by going to America, which can be rectified. There's nothing unreasonable in there. If they want it in the US, they'll sign it. If not, we'll be very happy, and we'll do it in the UK.
"We are speaking multiple times a day but we are running out of time if they want to do the fight on November 20. We will need to make a decision this week."
