A heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua has been thrown into chaos after the Gypsy King accused his rival of pulling out of the contest.
The much-anticipated bout between the two was earmarked to take place in Cardiff later this year.
However, Fury took to Instagram to claim the fight is now in jeopardy owing to a feud between Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and the UFC’s Dana White.
White has been billed as the main promoter for the heavyweight showdown and had fought for the contest to take place in New York.
However Hearn, who successfully wrangled for the fight to take place in the Welsh capital, claims the contract his man signed stipulates that White cannot be involved in the contest.
Taking to Instagram, Fury has now claimed the bout has been cancelled because of Hearn’s ego.
He said: “They’re little s*** house cowards to do with Eddie Hearn’s ego, he’s making up a million different things and threatening that ‘we’re not going to fight’ you little coward.
“AJ pull your finger out you white flag, yellow-bellied coward. You know now we’re coming home, now I’m coming home the Gypsy King is coming back to the United Kingdom to thrash you in front of all my fans in Wales.”
Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua has now thrown into chaos
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Fury went on to attack AJ, accusing him of being a “body-building sausage” who is making a “million excuses”.
The Gypsy King also slammed Turki Al-Sheikh who runs Zuffa Boxing alongside White, claiming the boxing supremo is now looking to find a new person to fight Fury at “the drop of a hat”.
He then posted a fake up fight poster of himself and light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, suggested that the American could replace AJ in the Cardiff contest.
Fury and Joshua are due to meet on September 30 in a pre-fight press conference.
Anthony Joshua is due to meet with Fury
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PAHowever, Hearn warned that White must not be present at the London face off, labelling the UFC chief a “loser” and a “soppy t**” after the fight was confirmed for Cardiff.
The fight ring walk had been expected to take place around 2am to suit a US-based audience.
The timing was decided in line with the demands of Netflix, which will broadcast the heavyweight showdown, should it go ahead.
Initially Hearn had wanted the fight to take place at Wembley Stadium, however the Welsh Government’s willingness to bend their late-night curfew as well as a roof over the Principality Stadium had swung the fight towards the Welsh capital.
Cardiff’s Principality Stadium is in line to host Tyson Fury’s fight with Anthony Joshua | PAWhile Joshua and Fury no longer operate at the pinnacle of the heavyweight division, interest in finally seeing two household names meet in the ring remains high.
Joshua has been knocked down a total of six times in his last two fights against recognised boxers, against Daniel Dubois and Kristian Prenga, but remains a deadly finisher with knockout power.
Fury’s most recent outings since coming out of retirement earlier this year have produced comfortable wins against Arslanbek Makhmudov and Mariusz Wach.
However, both those performances pointed to a fighter whose best days are behind him.
While boxing pundits agree the two should have met several years ago, their December 11 collision will at least end the dispute who is the preeminent British heavyweight of their generation.
