Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua scrap online after their $155 million fight in real life falls apart

So close yet so far ...

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury were set for a “super” fight on Aug. 14, 2021, in Saudi Arabia that would have unified the Heavyweight championship belts and likely broken all records for pay-per-view (PPV).

“This is gonna be the biggest sporting event ever to grace the planet Earth,” Fury said on social media while trumpeting the fact that the fight was “100 percent on.”

Unfortunately, Fury didn’t factor in the possibility of an arbitrator ruling in Deontay Wilder’s favor regarding a rematch clause cooked into their 2020 fight contract. Fury’s management was sure the clause had expired. The arbitrator obviously factored in the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and said Fury must face Wilder by mid-September or be in breach of contract.

So bye-bye Aug. 14 in Saudi Arabia. Bye-bye $155 million site fee the Saudis were paying to host the fight. Bye-bye $75 million guaranteed purses for both men. Now it’s looking like Fury will fight Wilder a third time on July 24, 2021 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Joshua will face mandatory WBO challenger Oleksandr Usyk.

With a deal worth this much money gone south you know there’s a lot of anger behind the scenes. Joshua and Fury both spent the day throwing trash talk at each other arguing about who had dishonored boxing more, whatever the hell that even means in a world where Jake Paul exists.

Fury has also been ripping Wilder for making a mess of his August plans.

Try not to feel too bad for any of these guys. Both Fury and Joshua will be making eight-figure sums for their next fight. All they have to do is not lose these last bouts to dangerous opponents and their “super” fight will come back together in November.

But you know what they say about best laid plans ...

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