Promoter Eddie Hearn says Turki Alalshikh has informed him that he plans to make the fight with Tyson Fury for Anthony Joshua in 2026. Hearn states that Turki asked him if he agreed to the fight for Joshua against Fury, and he has accepted it.
As of now, the Fury vs. Joshua mega-fight still hasn’t been made, but Hearn is confident that Turki Alalshikh will deliver it in 2026.
Fury, 37, hasn’t fought since losing to Oleksandr Usyk on December 21, 2024. ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) retired a month later on January 13, 2025.
Can Turki Tempt the Gypsy King?
Turki will have to do some convincing to get Fury interested enough to return. He’s incredibly wealthy now, with a fortune estimated $140–$160 million.
Whatever Turki offered him, it would have to be a figure that would tempt him enough to deal with the pain of training camp and the potential embarrassment of losing to the faster and more powerful Joshua. In Fury’s last three fights against Usyk and Francis Ngannou, he’s looked slow and hittable. He arguably lost all three fights.
“Next year, we will fight in February, and then we will fight Tyson Fury if Turki Alalshikh delivers on his plans and strategies,” promoter Eddie Hearn said to talkSPORT about Anthony Joshua’s plans for 2026.
Hearn really wants the Fury vs. Joshua fight to happen despite the decline both fighters have endured in recent years. He’s assuming there’s going to be a tremendous amount of interest from fans in the UK and worldwide.
It’s questionable whether fans outside of the UK will want to pay to watch an aging, past their prime AJ and Fury fight at this point. The fight could be overlooked by non-Brits, as seen with the celebrity-esque rematch between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn this Saturday. While that fight has attracted interest from British boxing fans, people outside of the UK are ignoring it.
“We spoke with him in London this week. Everything that we do with Anthony Joshua will be in accordance with and under the guidance of Turki Alalshikh. He has given us amazing opportunities,” said Hearn.
Fury vs. Joshua now falls into the category of an old-timer’s type of fight, along the same lines as the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition in 2020, and the plans for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to face Manny Pacquiao in a rematch in 2026.
“It’s Turki Alalshikh’s responsibility to talk to Tyson Fury and try to make the deal. I can’t tell you we’re fighting Tyson Fury,” said Hearn. “What I can tell you is that Turki Alalshikh has told us, ‘I am going to make AJ v Tyson Fury. This is your deal. Do you accept?’
“We have accepted. Is the fight made? No. Because I don’t know where he’s [Turki] at with Tyson Fury. All I know is he’s yet to fail in delivering a fight,” said Hearn about Alalshikh.
With Turki’s money, he’s got an excellent chance of luring Fury out of retirement back in the ring to face Joshua. If he offers Tyson over $100 million to take the fight. The question is, how much will Fury want?
It’s reasonable to assume that he’ll want the kind of dough that Canelo Alvarez received for his recent ‘Fight of the Century’ against Terence Crawford on September 13, 2025. Canelo’s purse was reportedly $150 million for that fight. Predictably, Fury will view himself as the A-side against Joshua. So, $150 million to $175 million could be the ballpark that he’s going to be operating at.
Last Updated on 11/13/2025
