George Groves: "I don’t want to see AJ vs Fury anymore"

George Groves: "I don’t want to see AJ vs Fury anymore"

Immediately after Anthony Joshua's sixth round stoppage victory over Jake Paul last weekend , the former two-time unified world heavyweight champion called out long-term British rival Tyson Fury.

The British heavyweights, both two-time world champions, have been on a collision course for many years, but their proposed fight has never come close to fruition.

With 37-year-old Tyson Fury officially retired and AJ, 36, just recently taking the longest break of his boxing career ever, contemplating retirement also, it appears that these two enemies are past it, on paper and on performances.

Fury's first fight with Oleksandr Usyk , in May 2024, was an incredibly even battle that the Ukrainian just edged, with a ninth round knockdown proving the vital difference on the split scorecards. However, in the rematch, seven months later, the 'Gypsy King' was dominated down the stretch to lose unanimously - 115-112 on all three cards. He announced his retirement from boxing shortly after.

In September last year, London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Joshua was brutally KO'd in five rounds by underdog Daniel Dubois. His subpar performance was almost the catalyst for his retirement also, as he recently revealed he toyed with the idea of quitting.

Now in the twilight of his career, AJ is looking to finally land the fight that has eluded British boxing for so long, but does anyone still want to see it? 'The Saint' was quick to answer that question.

Speaking to BetVictor Casino , former WBA world super-middleweight world champion George Groves declared that he has no interest in the out-of-date Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury, mooted for 2026.

"I don't really want to see [AJ vs Fury] anymore," the 27-year-old from Hammersmith was quick to comment, "But I think it does enhance the possibility that it's gonna happen, because we've seen Fury come out this week and call out Joshua. They have some sort of rivalry now that can't truly be explained. Joshua called out Fury in the post-fight interview.

"But I don't at all buy into Joshua coming back and winning the world title one day, like a proper world title, and neither do I think Fury can do either, unless the division's just finished. Usyk's the man, and then there's a few coming through like Moses Itauma. If you put Moses Itauma in with Joshua, I think Moses stops him, that's where we're at.

"Fury probably now wants a warm-up fight because Joshua technically had one against Paul, and because of the timing, Joshua will have one as well. But I think it loses momentum for the fight. Because who can they fight?

"You don't need to set up this fight with stellar performances, they should get it on now. Fight in the summer, again in December next year, and then if it's 1-1, they can have a third one. I wouldn't be chasing a warm-up fight. No one's gonna have the same excitement. Can we just get stuck in with his fight?"