Fury vs Joshua: Tyson Fury says he’s no longer training, taking time away from boxing

Could boxing be on the verge of shooting itself in the foot once again? History would probably suggest that isn’t unlikely. For as long as there’s been positive talk about things coming together for an undisputed heavyweight title unification between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, things just haven’t been able to get over the line. Now, in what might be another indicator that the prospective fight won’t be happening, Tyson Fury said during an ESPN+ telecast that he’s not even training at the moment.

“I’m not training anymore. I’m not training no more. I’ve never stopped training since December 2017, and even after these world title fights, I trained the next day. I go running 10 miles, doing things ... I’m in the gym sparring and messing around.”

Obviously this could amount to nothing if terms between Fury and Joshua happened to get agreed to and Fury gets back in the gym soon, but the more time away from the gym the worse it would seem for Fury who struggled in the past with depression and substance abuse. To be completely clear, I’m not suggesting that Fury isn’t in good spirits or is on the verge of a relapse or anything, but his next statement could be at least somewhat concerning considering his history.

“I’m taking some time away from the game at the moment, because, like I said, I’ve been ready to fight since I beat Deontay Wilder last year. I’ve had no success in getting another fight. At the moment I’m just concentrating on getting me 10 pints of Stella.”

In fairness, I readily admit that Fury could just as easily need a well-needed break after training non-stop over the past three years — that’s really not unreasonable. Either way though, it doesn’t seem to bode well for most of us who have been hoping to see a fight that the sport of boxing could really use right now.