Who else wants to get off the endless, hellish Joshua v Fury ride?

After almost a decade of waiting, the colossal Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury showdown — the biggest British heavyweight boxing fight of all time — was all but locked in. Sure, it was coming years too late, really, but it would still be a fascinating contest, and fans had largely accepted that the slightly declining versions of the two fighters were at least still well matched. Then this weekend happened: a bizarre mess of a weekend that has thrown everything up in the air once more.

On Friday night, after Fury’s entirely unimpressive win over 46-year-old Mariusz Wach in a glorified sparring session in Thailand (in a fight that was inexplicably broadcast nowhere), the all-British showdown slated for later this year appeared destined to go Joshua’s way. But 24 hours later, when “AJ” was sent crashing to the canvas inside 20 seconds by unknown Albanian Kristian Prenga, the super-fight appeared to be collapsing with him.

Joshua endured a second knockdown before the end of the opening stanza, but just a couple of minutes later, the laughing Brit had dug out a KO win following a fight as chaotic as you could wish to see. Victories for both men in these warm-ups were supposed to signal the removal of the final hurdles to the ‘battle of Britain’, but the issue is that Fury and Joshua are hardly speeding down the track to a November showdown at Wembley. In fact, as Combat Sports Editor Alex Pattle so eloquently explains, either man could run out of road before it arrives.

The 2am GMT ring walks proposed by Saudi matchmaker Turki Alalshikh were already farcical, but now there is talk that Joshua’s contract dictates a showdown on British soil, whereas Fury’s allows for a meeting in the US. Furthermore, there must be conversations behind closed doors about whether Joshua is in the right state mentally to return to the ring in November. If Joshua vs Fury ever materialises, it now really might come down to who has declined more severely, to the point that it is no longer an enticing proposition.

Do not be surprised if the fight is delayed until 2027. Do not be surprised if more warm-up bouts are suggested. Do not be surprised if we never see the big one, even if those involved with the contracts might bristle at that suggestion.

Each time a step towards Joshua vs Fury is taken, the fight inches further out of reach, like some sort of Sisyphean punishment. Can we stop the ride? Because I want to get off.

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury may finally be set to meet in the ring later this year. Or, they may not... (Getty)

MUST READS

Tadej Pogacar has no more rivals as he matches Tour de France legends with fifth yellow jersey

Tadej Pogacar has done it again. He dominated his rivals and cruised to a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title on the streets of Paris on Sunday afternoon.

With victory, he joined Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the only men with five Tour titles to their name. Chris Froome now stands alone on four.

His final margin of victory was six minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel, with Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Isaac del Toro completing the podium, ahead of French teenager Paul Seixas. As Chief Sports Writer Lawrence Ostlere notes, the Slovenian has no equals, and no one has yet provided a compelling answer as to how you can stop him…

At 27, Pogacar is the youngest man to reach the tally of five Tour de France wins and, on this evidence, it would take something extraordinary – a freak injury, chronic boredom, perhaps an early retirement to take up stoneware pottery or tend to a smallholding – to prevent him winning a record-setting sixth and several more beyond.

Pogacar was able to pick stage wins almost at will, adding five to his collection here. He now has 26 career stage victories at the Tour, nine behind record-holder Mark Cavendish. A mark set by a prolific sprinter is being hauled in by a mountain monster.

There are still new frontiers of grand tour racing to breach. Pogacar is yet to win the Vuelta a Espana because he’s raced it only once, when he finished third in 2019. He is still five wins behind Merckx’s total of 11 grand tour titles, although the Spanish race could yet be added to his 'palmares' by the end of the year.

But like so many of his rides, Pogacar is already out on his own as the greatest road cyclist of all time. Merckx admitted as much two years ago and the Slovenian has only got stronger, quicker, more dominant.

Sorry Gianni, your Trumpian rant does not undo World Cup failure

Fifa president Gianni Infantino hit out at critics for “spreading hate” at this summer’s World Cup as he went on a Donald Trump-like rant, claiming the tournament had been an unparalleled success.

Infantino has faced intense scrutiny, including calls to resign, after staging a World Cup plagued by controversy, which peaked when USA striker Folarin Balogun had his red-card ban suspended following a call from US president Trump demanding a review — a decision that made Balogun available for the co-hosts’ last-16 clash with Belgium.

Of course, this was far from the only point of contention, with the USA’s treatment of Iran, the refused entry of Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan and the exorbitant price of tickets often taking focus away from on-pitch matters. Yet Infantino has now disregarded this criticism as “hate and false rumours” in an extraordinary essay posted on Instagram on Sunday night.

Infantino may have learnt how to dismiss the truth as irrelevant from his buddy, but, as Will Castle writes, the Trumpian rant can’t disguise the self-inflicted problems caused to the tournament by the Infantino-Trump axis.

It’s honestly adorable to see how desperately Gianni Infantino wants to be Donald Trump. You could hear the US president’s cadence, even see his hand gestures, as Infantino went on an extraordinary, self-congratulating rant putting his World Cup haters on blast.

Trump has clearly taught his Fifa counterpart his tried-and-tested political mantra: shout something repeatedly and loud enough and eventually it will definitely become true, probably...

Infantino claimed his “most outstanding World Cup” went off without a hitch. “We experienced no violence, no incidents, 100 per cent safety and security, only joy and happiness!”

Think you remember the Folarin Balogun debacle? The disgraceful treatment of Iran? The refusal to allow Africa’s best referee to enter the country? The deaths of four people in a crush during the celebrations of Mexico’s win over Ecuador? No, you are just “consumed by hate” – cheer up, misery guts!

There is no other way of putting this: it’s an attack on those who have tried to hold him to account. An attempt to distort reality and rewrite the narrative that is piling up on Infantino, that he is single-handedly ruining the biggest sport in the world.

Team England gymnast Gabriel Langton on his horrific Commonwealth Games fall: ‘I remember pretty much all of it’

Gymnast Gabriel Langton was undoubtedly involved in the scariest moment of the Commonwealth Games so far, when he fell head-first from three metres to the floor after missing his catch on the horizontal bar during the men’s team event.

The 19-year-old Team England star landed on his head, bringing the action inside the arena to a halt. He received medical treatment on the floor for several minutes before being taken away on a stretcher wearing a head brace and spending the night in hospital.

He was released the following day and confirmed he had not suffered a concussion, but as he told James Toney, he can remember pretty much all of the horrific incident and feared for his gymnastics future.

“I remember pretty much all of it,” Langton said in the interview.

“I was in quite a lot of pain when I fell, but initially I thought I needed to get back on the bar and finish my routine. Then more medical staff came over and I realised I probably wasn’t going to get back on the bar.

“I knew that I could still talk, I could move a lot of things. I was just hoping I could do gym again. Neck injuries are there to be taken seriously. I was just hoping that it wasn’t anything too bad.

“When I got the scans back, it was a big relief. My thought process switched quite quickly to being, ‘I should be back in the gym quite soon.’ It’ll be a gentle reintroduction, but hopefully not too long. I’m doing a lot better now. Slightly sore, but a lot better than I was a couple of days ago, knowing that it’s nothing too serious.”

Langton says the fall was just a fluke and cannot wait to get back in the gym. “I’ve done that skill so many times and this has happened once,” he added. “I have performed it safely ten thousand times. If you look at those stats, this was just kind of a freak accident. I think I’ll be pretty confident that I can just put that to the side and trust in my gymnastics again.”

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James Toney: The story behind Adam Ramsay-Peaty’s tears at Commonwealth Games

Adam Peaty broke down in tears after his bid for Commonwealth Games gold ended with 100m breaststroke bronze. Brand new name, but not the same old result. He may now be double-barrelled, but he will not be chasing double gold here in Glasgow.

The three-time Olympic champion was stunningly beaten in the 100m breaststroke, an event he dominated for so long, by Australia’s Sam Williamson. He was even edged into bronze as rising star Filip Nowacki, just 18, claimed Jersey’s first Commonwealth Games medal in 36 years with a stunning silver to cement his place as the coming man of British breaststroke.

Ramsay-Peaty turns his attention to defending his 50m breaststroke title this evening – his final chance to become the first British swimmer to win gold at four consecutive Commonwealth Games – but this upcoming shot at redemption couldn’t stop the tears from flowing as he considered his defeat over the longer distance. He boasts the nine fastest times in history over 100m, but his 59.65-second swim here was his slowest in a major championship final for a decade.

After coming close to quitting the sport following his failure to defend his 100m breaststroke Olympic title in Paris in the summer of 2024, he married model Holly Ramsay – daughter of celebrity chef Gordon – in December, and the couple recently announced they were expecting their first child later this year. However, social media commentary and headlines surrounding his strained relationship with his parents have taken their toll; the swimmer says a life lived in the spotlight, on the front and back pages, could not continue – and that is what caused the emotion to flow.

He was simply Adam Peaty when once asked to sum himself up in two words. “Never satisfied,” came the reply. These days, the 31-year-old cuts a more reflective figure. Gone are the soundbites that made it seem as though he’d swallowed a self-help book, along with the relentless references to his “Gladiator mindset”. Now, he admits he is simply fighting to stay in the slipstream of the next generation.

Read more here

Adam Ramsay-Peaty and wife Holly Ramsay-Peaty after the swimmer's defeat in Glasgow (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

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