Anthony Joshua agrees to take on Tyson Fury in battle of Britain come December

FORMER world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua is going to be engaged in what will be the biggest fight in British boxing history in December when he locks horns with World Boxing Council (WBC) title holder Tyson Fury.

On August 20, Joshua failed in his bid to regain his World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Federation  heavyweight titles that he lost last year,  In a development that shocked the sporting world in September 2021, Joshua, 31, was outclassed by Usyk, 34, at the at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, as the Ukrainian secured a unanimous points victory.

Having lost the rematch, Joshua is now looking to get his career back on track and as such has accepted an offer from Fury for a 60:40 purse split for the fight dubbed the Battle of Britain. Joshua was on the surprising end of a call from Fury, who is not willing to wait around for an undisputed clash with Usyk next year.

Rather than hang around waiting until next year, Usyk proposed that he and Joshua fight in early November but it now appears that December is when the bout will take place. Joshua can only return by December at the earliest and his promoter Eddie Hearn, confirmed they are willing to take the deal on offer after talks with Frank Warren's son George.

Fury also wants to include a rematch clause and Joshua's team are happy to comply as long as they get the lion's share of the purse if they win the first fight. Mr Hearn said: "We just went back this morning and said I spoke to Anthony Joshua about that offer, I think particularly he deserves more than 40% but, he's happy.

"I don't make the decisions, he does. So I went back this morning and said we accept 60/40. We want that reversed in the rematch, rightfully so because you're champion here, you want the bigger split, which I think is fair.

"We want to do the fight in December. Now interestingly, they have December 17th, Queensberry held at the Millennium, so that's perfect."