Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s South Yorkshire connections explored ahead of Britain’s biggest ever fight
The two former world champions have both spent a fair chunk of their careers in South Yorkshire during their rise to prominence
The most hyped and talked about fight in recent British boxing history is set to take place later this year after Anthony Joshua signed a contract to face Tyson Fury.
Matchroom boxing promoter Eddie Hearn posted on social media on Monday that the long-awaited fight was "signed, sealed and delivered" - in a move which many fans will hope finally puts an end to more than a decade of failed negotiations and false dawns.
A date or venue for Joshua v Fury has not been announced, but there have been some suggestions by Hearn that the blockbuster showdown could be shown on streaming platform Netflix in November.
No world titles are on the line but nevertheless it remains an event which has the draw in huge audiences due to both fighters' history of dominating the sport over the last decade and the fact that they’ve shared a rivalry with each other for well over 10 years.
Tyson Fury’s boxing career so far
Fury made his debut in 2008 and ever since has been one of the sport’s biggest characters in both a literal and metaphorical sense.
The 6ft 9in fighter married his wife Paris at St Peter-In-Chains Roman Catholic Church in Doncaster the same year. It was followed by a reception at The Stables in High Melton.
Unlike Joshua, Fury did not get the chance to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, but quickly built a name for himself as a professional by winning all of his first 24 fights, including notable wins over Derek Chisora (twice) and Steve Cunningham to set up a bout with world champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
Klitschko, nicknamed Dr Steelhammer, had been the long-reigning champion for the last 10 years, but was unable to find an antidote to Fury’s awkward style in one of the great boxing upsets of the time as the Gypsy King prevailed on points.
Fury had essentially climbed Everest by beating Klitschko, but had to overcome bigger issues outside of the ring after spending three years away from the sport with mental health problems.
He returned in 2018 and within two years became the world champion again by beating Deontay Wilder on two occasions while drawing the other, before subsequent defences against Dilian Whyte, Chisora (again) and Francis Ngannou.
Fury retired after losing consecutive fights against Oleksandr Usyk - the first defeats of his career - but recently returned to the ring with a lopsided unanimous decision win over Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Anthony Joshua’s career so far
A late starter in the sport, Joshua began boxing in 2007, aged 18. Within four years, he’d become an Olympic Gold Medalist in London, before taking the sport by storm at professional level with 16 wins - all by knockout - to become world champion for the first time in 2016 against Charles Martin.
Joshua, credited by many as being the man that put British boxing back on the map, defended his title six times after that, with the most notable of his wins also coming against Klitschko in a thrilling encounter in 2017.
Throughout large chunks of his career, he’s been based in Sheffield, as he has trained at the English Institute of Sport, near Attercliffe, for many years.
He was also said to have stayed in a flat in Sheffield during the week, while returning to London at the weekends.
At the time, AJ, who was then trained by Rob McCracken, said: "When people have come here and when people have seen this place, they do wonder why we haven't moved. (It's) because it works. It's peaceful, everyone has their own space, better sleeping, food to eat and it accommodates what we need for training.
Joshua, his first career defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr in a major upset in Saudi Arabia back in 2019, he responded by beating his opponent by unanimous decision in a rematch, but shortly after suffered consecutive defeats to Usyk, who relinquished him of his world title belts.
The Watford-born fighter has been trying to regain them since then, winning five of his last six fights, with the most recent coming against YouTuber Jake Paul. However, he did suffer a fifth round defeat in his most recent British showdown against Daniel Dubois.
Joshua had been waiting for the all-clear to resume full training after being injured in a road accident in Nigeria in which two of his close friends and members of his team lost their lives.
He’s scheduled to face Kristian Prenga in a comeback fight this summer and is a massive favourite to win that one as he looks to get himself prepared for a Battle of Britain against Fury.