Anthony Joshua has accepted terms for a proposed world heavyweight title fight with Tyson Fury, his management team announced on Tuesday.
Fury, the WBC champion, made the offer to his British rival last week, saying he would be willing to offer Joshua 40 per cent of the purse in order to seal the contest.
Joshua’s management team, 258, said on Tuesday they had accepted Fury’s offer on behalf of Joshua and his promoter, Matchroom, and were awaiting the champion’s response.
They wrote on social media in a message retweeted by Joshua: “258 and @MatchroomBoxing can confirm, on behalf of @anthonyjoshua, that we accepted all terms presented to us by Fury’s team for a fight Dec 3rd last Friday.
“Due to the Queen’s passing (death of Queen Elizabeth II), it was agreed to halt all communication. We are awaiting a response.”
Fury made the offer for a “Battle of Britain” bout with Joshua after it emerged that rival champion Oleksandr Usyk had ruled out fighting again until early next year.
Joshua, 32, suffered his second straight defeat to the Ukrainian in Saudi Arabia last month and had planned to make a relatively low-key comeback.
Responding last week to Fury’s offer, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn expressed caution, questioning whether Fury was “serious” about the bout.
The unbeaten Fury announced he was retiring on his 34th birthday last month, having previously performed a number of U-turns over his future in the sport.
But in a video posted on social media last week, he appeared to confirm he had reversed his decision again as he challenged Joshua to a showdown.
Former champion Joshua fell to 24-3 with his latest defeat to Usyk, who retained his WBO, IBF and WBA belts, but a clash with Fury would spark huge interest in Britain
