Fury and Joshua Holster Their Weapons as Boxing’s Power Brokers Take Aim

After weeks of feuding over who would promote the fight, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury finally shared a stage. The surprise was how well they got along, even as boxing's power brokers continued their own battle around them.

Fury was, as always, the most colorful and memorable speaker on the dais and had plenty to say. In one exchange, he mocked himself for being fat and bald, then argued that while Joshua was built like an Adonis, he lacked the requisite chin.

"That's also true," Joshua replied good-humoredly.

Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua - Press Conference | Getty Images for Netflix

This fight has been billed as the "Battle of Britain," but Fury drew a different historical comparison. Fury promised to go straight at Joshua from the opening bell, comparing the fight to the famous Wild West gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Yet that confrontation was hardly a showdown between aging gunslingers. Most of the men who exchanged fire in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, on October 26, 1881, were younger than these two. Virgil Earp was 38, but Wyatt Earp was 33, Doc Holliday was 30, and Billy Clanton, one of the three men killed, was just 18.

Earp's career was far from over, and he went on to be a boxing referee in some of the big fights of his era. Fury is now 38, and Joshua will turn 37 before fight night.

I'm Your Huckleberry

Plenty of ammunition remained onstage. Turki Alalshikh questioned why The Ring CEO Rick Reeno appeared in a Versace bathrobe rather than dressing up for the press conference. Reeno turned the remark into a jab at Hearn, saying he had dressed that way because he was sitting beside him.

Fury had encouraged precisely that sort of exchange. According to TNT Sports, he told Reeno before the conference: "You're sat next to Eddie Hearn, rip him to pieces."

Reeno replied: "Wait until you see what I say up there."

The pair already had a history of trading insults about their appearance. At the June launch conference for Joshua's fight with Kristian Prenga, Reeno teased Hearn about dyeing his hair. Hearn responded: "You look like you comb yours with a pork chop."

Fury promised a shootout, but the fighters mostly kept their weapons holstered at the launch. One would imagine AJ has a similar plan, as it's hard to see him winning a twelve-round decision against Fury. The sharper exchanges at the press conference came from the men around them. Before Joshua and Fury settle matters in the ring, boxing’s rival power brokers still have a few scores of their own to settle.

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