Mike Tyson tells Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to fight on home soil as war of words threatens to derail British showdown

Mike Tyson has rubbished the idea of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury fighting in New York and urged the British rivals to clash on home soil – even if it means he is barred from sitting ringside.

After years of trash talk and false dawns, the two British heavyweights looked set to finally meet in a long-awaited showdown later this year.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Joshua and Fury are understood to have signed contracts to fight on November 20 in New York City.

But news that the fight would not be held in Britain sparked a fierce backlash and then on Friday, Fury claimed the fight ‘doesn’t look like it’s going to happen’ in an explosive rant at his rival and Joshua’s ‘money-thirsty’ promoter Eddie Hearn.

That does not sit well with ‘Iron’ Mike, one of the most feared heavyweights in history, who told the Daily Mail that Joshua and Fury must clash on home soil.

‘It’s going to be a great fight, it’s going to be great for boxing… even though I can’t go – I’m barred from London – I think London should get the fight,’ said Tyson, who is blocked from visiting the UK due to his criminal past.

The former heavyweight champion was jailed for rape in 1992 and has also been convicted of assault, cocaine possession and driving under the influence.

‘They’re both English and if they come here, all the English people are going to come anyway. So you’re home already, let’s do it there!’

‘Everybody that [wants] to be there, they’re going to come to the United States – it’s going to be full of English people. It’s just going to be just like it is over there.

‘There ain’t going to be many Americans there because they’ll sell it out. All the English – very few Americans – sold it out when I fought Frank Bruno [twice in Las Vegas].’

Tyson spoke to the Daily Mail during an event at Sugar Factory in New York’s Times Square, where he was promoting new Protein Sliders that he hopes can help people eat more healthily.

The event kicked off just hours after Fury’s rant and the 60-year-old remains hopeful that the fight with Joshua will happen. 

‘It’s going to be a great fight, it’s going to be great for boxing. And I think they both still have enough in them once they get the desire,’ he said.

Fury has fought only twice since he suffered a second consecutive defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024. After another brief retirement, the 38-year-old has picked up wins over Arslanbek Makhmudov and, most recently, Mariusz Wach.

Joshua, meanwhile, recently returned to the ring for the first time since surviving a car crash that killed two of his closest friends. He beat the unheralded Kristian Prenga, twice climbing off the canvas in round one before securing a second-round knockout.

‘People think they lose because they can’t fight. They lose because they lose their desire. I’m sure [Joshua] would get back up for this fight. He’s had exciting fights, [recently] the guy dropped him, he got back up and he clocked the guy. That was very exciting.’

Hearn revealed it was written into 36-year-old Joshua’s contract that the fight had to be staged in Britain – only for reports of an agreement to fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden to emerge this week.

In a post on Instagram Friday, Fury, 38, said: ‘Quick update: Doesn’t look like they’re going to sign the fight, doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. All because Eddie Hearn and that want more money.

‘They’ve already had that much money off of Turki in the last few years, Eddie and AJ. They’ve had boxing deals, darts deals, snooker deals, they’ve had everything. And yet they’ve had the audacity and cheek of flea-bitten rats to ask for more money from Turki, who’s given you everything combined in the last couple of years.

‘You’re disgusting, money-thirsty pieces of s***. It is what it is, same old cliche a decade later, keep running you little cowards.’

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