Fury and Joshua are mostly smiles as they take stage together ahead of Cardiff bout

LONDON (AP) — Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua exchanged mostly friendly banter as they finally took the stage together Wednesday to promote a heavyweight fight that boxing fans have waited a decade for.

“Ten years in the making,” Joshua said at a press conference for their Dec. 11 bout in Cardiff. “We’re here now … it had to happen at some stage and there’s no better time than now.”

It is being billed as the biggest fight in British boxing history as the two former two-time world champions square off for the first time, and on UK soil to boot.

The only question is whether it comes too late to settle the dispute over who is the better boxer.

Fury is 38 and has come out of retirement a handful of times already. Joshua turns 37 next month and his only fights since losing his IBF world title clash with Daniel Dubois in 2024 were against YouTuber Jake Paul and Kristian Prenga.

“People say is it too late? (Expletive) too late,” Fury said. ”It’s the icing on the cake.”

Both men praised Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority and president of the Saudi Boxing Federation, for finally making the fight happen.

Alalshikh said he wanted to stage it at Wembley Stadium in London but settled for Cardiff because he couldn’t get permission to have the iconic venue stay open until 2 a.m.

“In the end, Wales delivered,” Alalshikh said. “And still it is UK.”

Tickets go on sale Oct. 9.

And the fighters are saving their heavy punches for the big event. The press conference was mostly full of smiles and laughter as the two exchanged a few verbal barbs about a famous sparring session more than 10 years ago, when Joshua was still an amateur.

A few hundred fans had been granted tickets and a vast majority were loudly in Joshua’s camp.

But it was Fury who did most of the talking, although he mainly had good things to say about his opponent.

“He’s been a role model and a poster boy for British boxing for years. I find myself defending my arch rival to fans I meet in the street,” Fury said. “That aside, obviously we’re here to fight, and fight we will.”

That’s all boxing fans — especially in Britain — have wanted to see for so long.

“I know in pubs, people have had proper fights about who’s going to win between me and Tyson,” Joshua said. “I know family members have fell out with each other about who’s going to win … I’m just happy to be here, fighting, and fulfilling my destiny before I depart this world.”

Fury also pointed out the vastly contrasting physiques and styles of the two fighters.

“I stand here today as the most awkwardly built world heavyweight champion in the history of sport,” Fury said. “I’m a bald, fat, bearded, ugly, slow and ponderous, all of the above.”

At which point Joshua cut in: “It’s true.”

Fury then continued: “And we’ve got this guy here. He’s carved in stone like an Olympian, from marble. But every time he gets cracked on the jaw he falls over.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports