Tyson Fury’s heavyweight blockbuster with Anthony Joshua has been thrown into chaos after the Gypsy King claimed his rival is pulling out of the Cardiff contest.

In a dramatic escalation a little over 24 hours after their £150million bout was confirmed, Fury took to Instagram to say the fight is now in jeopardy owing to a feud between Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and the UFC’s Dana White.

White, who runs Zuffa Boxing alongside Saudi Arabia’s boxing supremo Turki Al-Sheikh, has been billed as the main promoter for the heavyweight showdown and had fought for the contest to take place in New York City. 

Hearn, who successfully wrestled the fight back to Cardiff, has claimed that the contract Joshua signed stipulates that White cannot be involved in the contest. 

In an expletive-laden Instagram video, Fury claimed the fight has been cancelled because of Hearn’s ego – and that he is ‘making up a million different things’. 

He said: ‘Breaking News: Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are trying to pull out of this fight they are saying he is not going to fight now.

‘They’re little s*** house cowards, mainly to do with Eddie Hearn’s ego, he’s making up a million different things and threatening that “we’re not going to fight” you little coward.

‘AJ pull your finger out you white flag, yellow-bellied coward. You know now we’re coming home, now I’m coming home the Gypsy King is coming back to the United Kingdom to thrash you in front of all my fans in Wales.’ 

Tyson Fury announced the news in a video on social media

Fury and Joshua’s fight was due to take place on Friday December 11. The pair were set to meet for a press conference next week on September 30

Fury exchanges words with Anthony Joshua after his fight in April 2026

Fury went on to call Joshua a ‘body-building sausage’. 

He also claimed that Al-Sheikh is now looking to find a new person to fight Fury at ‘the drop of a hat’.

Fury continued: ‘So I hope [Hearn and Joshua] are happy you little cowardly b*******, I’ve never seen anything like [Hearn and Joshua] you pure s*** houses and this is mainly to do with Eddie Hearn’s ego. What a little p****.’

The 38-year-old then posted a mocked up poster of himself and light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, hinting that the 29-year-old American could replace AJ in the Cardiff contest. 

Fury and Joshua, 36, are due to meet on September 30 in a pre-fight press conference, but Hearn warned that White – who he labelled a ‘loser’ and a ‘soppy t**’ after the fight was confirmed – must not be present at the London face off.

But Fury now claims that this latest demand could see the fight unravel. In a stinging response, Al-Sheikh also threw his weight behind White by posting a photo of the American smoking a cigar on Instagram.

It is understood that both men would have pocketed around £75million for arguably the biggest bout to be staged on British soil.

Hearn had also succeeded in forcing the promotion’s Saudi backers to scrap plans to stage the showdown in New York.

Hearn initially pushed for Wembley Stadium, but the combination of a roof over the Principality Stadium and the Welsh government’s willingness to bend their late-night curfew swung the fight towards Cardiff.

The event, broadcast on Netflix, was expected to take place around 2am to accommodate a US audience. 

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.