Ten Years On: Why Fury and Joshua Still Cannot See Eye to Eye

The dream will not die. Neither, it seems, will the frustration.

Tyson Fury returned to the ring at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday and did what he has always done — win. His dominant victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov extended his professional record to 35 wins, two defeats and one draw. But the talk afterward was not about the fight itself. It was about what happened afterward.

Fury leaned over the ropes and called for Anthony Joshua. For one brief moment, it felt like the stars might finally align for the all-British showdown that has dominated boxing conversation for ten years without ever materializing. Joshua was ringside. He had come to watch. But when Fury beckoned, he did not move.

It was a subtle moment that spoke volumes. The Gypsy King wanted the fight. Joshua was not ready to give it to him — at least not on Fury's terms.

He didn't want the smoke, Fury said afterward, his frustration evident. He came ringside to make the fight. If it was me, I'd have jumped in the ring. Ten years in the making and still there's uncertainty if it's going to happen next.

The numbers tell their own story. Team Fury say they have signed a contract. Joshua has not. Turki Alalshikh, the powerful chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, had been speaking as if an announcement was imminent. Netflix — which broadcast Saturday night's fight — even posted on social media that the fight would happen in autumn in the UK. Frank Warren, Fury's promoter, was quick to pour cold water on that timeline.

Both men remain central to the sport in Britain. Joshua, with his 29 wins including December's stoppage of Jake Paul, carries the beating heart of UK boxing. Fury, with his larger-than-life persona, is the blood that keeps the sport pulsing. If the fight were to happen at Wembley, it would outdraw almost anything on the planet.

Yet there are complicating factors. Joshua has spent much of the past 18 months away from elite-level competition. Beyond the Jake Paul bout, he has not faced the kind of test that Fury brings. More human than that, Joshua survived a car accident in December that tragically claimed the lives of two close friends. That tragedy has altered the emotional landscape around him entirely.

I was in a serious incident maybe four months ago, Joshua reminded viewers as pressure mounted.

Fury, who has spoken openly about his own mental health struggles, said he sympathized with Joshua's situation. We've all had problems — that's life, he said. Yet he also made clear his position has not changed: it is Joshua or nothing.

If it isn't AJ next, I'm not interested in boxing again. It's either him or I'm gone.

The sport has been here before. Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao became the cautionary tale of what happens when boxing's biggest fights are delayed past their moment. When that bout finally happened, it broke every financial record but struggled to deliver in the ring.

Croke Park in Dublin, with its 80,000-plus capacity, has emerged as a leading venue candidate. An English rivalry staged in Ireland would be unusual, but nothing about this fight has followed a conventional path.

The fascination refuses to fade, even as both men move past their prime. There are younger heavyweights coming through — Moses Itauma among them — but none command the attention that Fury and Joshua still do.

The question now is simple: will boxing allow this generation to end without ever seeing them share a ring? At this point, even the most optimistic fans have learned to wait before believing.