The China Mail - Croke Park boss eager to stage Fury-Joshua heavyweight clash in Dublin

Fury, 39, reiterated on Wednesday ahead of his return from retirement against Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday that he wanted to face Joshua before the end of 2026.

The duo have almost got into the same ring on several occasions, only for contract disputes, fitness issues and losses elsewhere to derail previous attempts to stage the super-fight.

Their camps had reportedly been close to an agreement before Joshua decided to take time out from boxing following a car crash which led to the death of two close friends in December.

The 36-year-old Joshua, however, is now back in training and was present for Derek Chisora's defeat by Deontay Wilder last Saturday.

Croke Park, with a capacity of over 80,000 in the Irish capital, is one of Europe's largest stadiums.

They are now trying to arrange a fight between Fury and Joshua, with Irish women's boxing heroine Katie Taylor on the undercard.

"The real hope is that we will get Tyson Fury here later on in the year," Croke Park stadium chief executive Peter McKenna told the BBC on Thursday.

"That would be such a world-billing event that we would be able to facilitate a Katie Taylor fight here.

"A lot of stars need to align. Katie's manager needs to agree, Katie's promoter needs to agree, Tyson Fury's promoter needs to agree.

"I am very confident that all three are coming to the sense that this is one of Ireland's greatest sporting athletes and it would be such a 'wow' to have her here and for her to finish her career here."

A possible stumbling block is if Joshua wants a 'warm-up' fight before he faces Fury, with promoter Eddie Hearn suggesting earlier this week that Wilder could be an option.

Fury warned Joshua time was running out, given he will end his own 16-month absence from the ring on Saturday against Russian boxer Makhmudov.

"This fight (with Joshua) was supposed to happen so many times over the last 10 years, but then someone has had one more fight in between and someone has got knocked out or injured," Fury said.

"I think we should get this fight on as soon as possible in case something happens in between.

"The problem is that in heavyweight boxing anything can go wrong, there are no easy fights. And if you get knocked upside down, it's finished, it's done. I want it as the fight next and I'm sure AJ feels the same.

"Forget Wilder, the man is a shell of himself. Forget anyone else. Let me get through Saturday and then we will do the fight before the end of the year.

"I've been out of the ring longer than he has, 16 months out of the ring. Let's do it, let's dance."

M.Zhou--ThChM