Fury vs Joshua: Gypsy King's dad vows not to watch blockbuster fight

John Fury has revealed he will stay away from Tyson Fury’s long-awaited showdown with Anthony Joshua, despite the blockbuster Battle of Britain finally becoming a reality.

The outspoken father of the former heavyweight champion says he will instead remain at home and wait for someone to tell him the result after years of being closely involved in his son’s career.

Tyson Fury and Joshua are set to finally settle their long-running rivalry in Cardiff on December 11 after years of failed negotiations, call-outs and near misses.

But John Fury will have no role in the occasion after making it clear that he does not intend to be ringside for what could be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history.

“I wish him all the luck in the world, but I’m not involved, so I don’t want to go to the fight,” John told Playbook Boxing’s Spencer Oliver.

Oliver suggested that Fury could pull off a dramatic late appearance, similar to Chris Eubank Sr’s surprise arrival for his son’s first fight with Conor Benn.

John immediately dismissed the possibility, saying, “Let me tell you, you’re more chance of seeing a cow fly in that air than me bothering with it. Because I know accidents happen and I don’t want to have no part of it. I don’t like the game. I don’t like the people in it.”

The 61-year-old also admitted that the atmosphere surrounding boxing has become too stressful for him, choosing to follow the same approach as Tyson’s mother, who has largely stayed away from his fights.

John’s decision to stay away from the Joshua fight is hardly surprising given his long-standing desire for Tyson to walk away from boxing. He believes his son should have retired after enjoying major success, arguing that the former heavyweight champion had already achieved enough to leave the sport comfortably.

John pointed specifically to Tyson’s controversial 2023 fight against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou as the moment he decided his son had gone on for long enough.

“He should’ve stopped. You can push that boat out too far, and it’ll sink at some point,” he said.

John recalled advising Tyson to follow their original plan of winning a world title, defending it several times and then walking away ahead. He believes Tyson had enough left to defeat Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora, but his narrow split-decision victory over Ngannou changed his view completely.

“But when I seen him fight Francis Ngannou – that sealed the deal for me. No more. Told him that. So forget about it from here on.”

Despite his concerns, John insists he wishes his son well against Joshua. He will simply watch the result from afar rather than experience the tension of the fight himself.