Report: Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua Title Unification Contract Talks Open

The world's top two boxing heavyweights could be facing off in a unification title match.

Per ESPN's Mark Kriegel (h/t ESPN's Steve Kim), representatives for Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are discussing a championship bout in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere on the Arabian Peninsula.

Joshua is the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO titleholder after defeating Anthony Ruiz in December 2019.

Fury holds the WBC, The Ring Magazine and lineal titles following a win over Deontay Wilder in February 2020.

Kim discussed the negotiations in greater detail:

"Fury's adviser, MTK, which is based in Dubai, is negotiating for Fury on behalf of his co-promoters, Top Rank and Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions. MTK is awaiting an offer from promoters in Saudi Arabia, sources told Kriegel for ESPN's State of Boxing (8:30 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN+).

"Sources told Kriegel that MTK is handling negotiations because of a rift between Warren and Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing. Sources said the offer to Fury would have to be large enough to pay Deontay Wilder, who is coming off surgery, to waive his contractual right to an immediate rematch. Fury knocked out Wilder in the seventh round in February, and the third fight is tentatively planned for late this year."

As Kim noted, both Fury and Joshua are from the United Kingdom, but a fight between the two seems unlikely to occur there.

The issue regarding a Joshua-Fury fight right now is that both boxers have other matches lined up before a title unification bout can occur.

Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook explained what Joshua has going on: "Joshua (23-1, 21 KO) has mandatory challengers in line, for one thing. Kubrat Pulev will be first up, as that fight has been signed and was meant to happen on June 20, now postponed. Oleksandr Usyk is also in the mix, provided Usyk beats Derek Chisora, another fight that is currently on the shelf due to COVID-19."

Joshua could also fight Ruiz, who defeated the champ last June, a third time. However, Joshua isn't mandated to give Ruiz a rematch, and Christ mentioned that interest may be low after the current champ dominated the last bout.

As for Fury, Wilder has the right to a third match against him, and Wilder's advisor Shelley Finkel said the following to ESPN: "As far as we're concerned, the next fight [for Wilder] is the third fight [with Fury]."

For his part, Fury appears willing to fight anywhere, telling ESPN, "I'll fight in Timbuktu if the money's right. I have a bag, and I will travel."

Another concern is the fact that sports are on pause worldwide for the near future with very few exceptions. Boxing is not among them right now, and it's unclear when fans will return back to arenas en masse to watch sports events.

Given all listed factors, a Joshua-Fury match doesn't appear feasible until 2021 at the earliest, but if it does go down, it should be one of the most anticipated boxing matches this century.

Per BoxRec, Fury is ranked second on the pound-for-pound list. Joshua sits eighth.