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Just before midnight on Saturday, an hour after the first victory of his latest comeback, Tyson Fury paused in the midst of a familiar monologue about a predictable subject. He had just outclassed Arslanbek Makhmudov, the tough but limited Russian heavyweight, over 12 one-sided rounds. But Fury wanted to talk only about Anthony Joshua and whether or not he and his old British rival would ever fight each other.

In the lavish depths of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Fury sounded perplexed: “Ten years in the making and still, after all this time, there’s uncertainty if this fight’s gonna happen next. I’ve no idea. I hope so but you can’t force someone to do something.”

Joshua had been ringside, using his phone to video Fury’s often tedious domination of Makhmudov. But after the last bell he resisted the invitation to bang the drum for a showdown which has been hyped, delayed, postponed, cancelled and hyped all over again more times than many of us care to remember. Fury had called him out, live on Netflix, and Joshua stared back silently. When he was handed a microphone, Joshua’s response was lost in the embarrassment of a technical hitch which meant no one could hear him.

Even after he was whisked away to an interview, where he was handed a working microphone, Joshua initially refused to swallow the dangling bait. Understandably, he still needs more time to recover from the tragic car crash he and his team suffered in Nigeria four months ago. Joshua lost two of his closest friends that terrible day.

It did not help that Fury was out of earshot when Joshua spoke directly to him: “I’ve been chasing you for the last 10 years. You tell me your terms and conditions and I’ll have you in the ring when I’m ready. I’m the boss, you work for me. I’m the landlord.” Joshua added: “Contracts are being sent over and you’ll probably see us in the ring next, more than likely.” Asked whether he needed a warmup fight first, Joshua was cutting: “Good question. That [Fury] could be a warmup fight, based on what I saw tonight.”

Fury, who hadn’t heard Joshua’s interview, remained frustrated. “I never mentioned Anthony Joshua in the buildup, or since his accident,” he said. “I’ve given him the respect he deserves, and his space. Tonight he came here and I asked him to do the fight, but he didn’t give an answer. In my opinion he didn’t want no smoke. He didn’t look like he wanted it. He was shell-shocked.”

Both Fury and Joshua have had chunks taken out of them by boxing. Fury went through hell while winning two and drawing one of his three fights against Deontay Wilder. The Gypsy King also lost twice, narrowly, to Oleksandr Usyk before his most recent retirement. Meanwhile, Joshua had looked a shell of the fighter he had once been when, in his last serious bout in September 2024, he was crushed by Daniel Dubois. Joshua only returned to the ring last December for a lucrative but ludicrous scrap against the former YouTuber Jake Paul. Joshua appeared lacklustre before breaking the American’s jaw.

Fury scoffed at the suggestion that Joshua needed a proper test against a real boxer before stepping into the ring with him. “It’s another stumbling block. He’s just knocked a man spark out,” he said. “I’ve just come off a win. Let’s get it on. He’s 36. I’m 37. What’s the holdup? This was supposed to happen years ago but it’s still the biggest fight in boxing. I don’t think there’s a stadium in the world we couldn’t sell out.” Fury was asked if a two-fight deal with Joshua was being negotiated. “Let’s just get one first. One would do.”

He dismissed the idea that he might be tempted to challenge the winner of next month’s WBO title showdown between Fabio Wardley and Dubois. “What have I got to prove against some schoolboys in the division?” Fury asked. “I want to fight Anthony Joshua, the same age as me, two British boxing legends. Let’s fucking fight.”

Was he surprised Joshua didn’t climb into the ring on Saturday night? “Yeah, openly surprised. He was brought here tonight, ringside, for a reason – to get in that ring, make a face-off and get the fight signed. I signed months ago. He had his opportunity to accept and shake hands. Let’s dance. But he didn’t. He was very evasive, and didn’t give no definitive answers.”

Fury also waved away a question as to whether there would be a 50-50 split of a massive pay-per-view purse. “I’m not interested in all that bullshit,” he said. “I’ve got more money than anybody could spend in this fucking room. He’ll get his money and I’ll get mine. And if he gets £600m, and I get £50, good luck to him. It’s gone beyond all that.”

Spencer Brown, Fury’s manager, said: “I think the fight will 100% happen this year.” Fury still looked doubtful. Asked whether Joshua needed more understanding, and at least one tune-up fight after his personal tragedy, Fury said: “He’s had his problems. We all have. God knows, I’ve had problems myself. I’ve attempted to kill myself before. So I’ve been through it. I’ve been up and down. I’ve been one step out of a mental institution. So we’ve all had our problems and that’s life, unfortunately.

“But if you’re in this game, you’re either a boxer or you’re not. And the problem is, if you take interim fights in heavyweight boxing you can get chinned. It’s not like we’re two flyweights and it’s tip-tap. Just say he did fight Wilder and Wilder detonated on him. Does anyone want to see me and Wilder again? God knows, I don’t.

“If it ain’t Anthony Joshua, next, I’m not interested in boxing. I’ll eat a thousand Easter eggs, go up to 35 stone. I’m out. It’s either him or I’m gone again. I’m not interested in up-and-comers. I’m not interested in someone trying to prove a point over me. I don’t care about rankings or belts. I only care now about AJ. That’s the defining fight for British boxing.”