Reporting note: this article draws on Sky Sports; LodiScore provides the summary and editorial framing.
Tyson Fury says Anthony Joshua is being handed a "final payday" when the pair meet at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 11. The Fury vs Joshua fight will be the first between the two British heavyweights, who have both held world titles but never met in a unification bout.
Fury, speaking to WSVN Miami from his training camp, said he had doubted the contest would ever be made. "I never thought it would happen," he said. "I didn't think he had the minerals to get in there with the GK and he didn't. Four or five times he turned the fight down."
"At the end of his career now he wants a final payday. I'll give it to him, no problem." Sky Sports has contacted Joshua's promoter, Matchroom Boxing, for comment.
Fury vs Joshua billed as the end of an era
Fury framed the December date as a closing chapter for a generation of heavyweights. "[Fans] will see an end of an era," he said. "Me especially, I'm from the class of 2008, Olympic year '08. It's been a long time, this fight's been building for a very long time."
Asked what spectators should expect, he pointed to the age of both men rather than any tactical promise. "They'll see legendary fighters throwing down in their late 30s like all the greats did before."
He placed the bout in the broadest possible frame, describing two "modern-day gladiators" fighting for "pride, glory" and money. "Since time began men have fought each other for a prize. Or for a victory. Or for whatever it might be. Respect," he said.
Two fights left on Fury's contract
Fury, 38, was clear that December will not be his farewell. "I'm going to continue. I've got two fights left on my contract," he said. "I'll finish the contract off and then probably sign another 10-fight deal. Who knows?"
He acknowledged the constraint of time more directly than anything else in the interview. "If the money's right sign another 10 fights, but they've got to be quick because I'm getting older. And when it's gone it's gone. I'm coming up to fight No 40."
That arithmetic matters for how the Cardiff bout should be read. A fighter with two contracted dates remaining and a stated appetite for more is not describing a retirement tour, whatever the billing around his opponent suggests.
Usyk trilogy remains the target
Fury's stated priority beyond December is a third meeting with Oleksandr Usyk. He still disputes the decision in their second fight, and argued the Ukrainian has no comparable payday elsewhere in the division.
"Usyk knows he can't get any money anywhere else," Fury said. "If you want to get paid you've got to come and see me in the heavyweight division."
He closed with a self-assessment that leaned on physical specifics rather than record. "I rank myself as the best heavyweight who's ever put on a pair of gloves. There's never been anybody like me," he said. "6'9\", 275lbs, box like a middleweight and dance all over the ring for 12 rounds. Can knock you out with either hand, southpaw or orthodox, or slip and slide like a lightweight. There ain't been one."
"I'm 38-years-old and I'm still proving all the critics wrong."
The immediate questions are contractual and medical rather than stylistic: whether Joshua signs off on a bout his rival has publicly framed as a handout, and whether Fury's body holds through two remaining obligations and a third Usyk fight he clearly wants. No purse, weight or undercard details have been confirmed.
According to skysports.com, Fury made the comments in an interview with WSVN Miami.