Tyson Fury Eyes Benavidez as Joshua Fight Teeters on the Brink

Tyson Fury isn't waiting around for the Anthony Joshua fight to fall apart — he's already naming a replacement, and it's a brutal one. The 36-2-1 heavyweight says a clash with three-division champion David Benavidez looks more realistic than the all-British showdown booked for December 11 at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, headlining a Netflix and Ring event.

The reason for the cold feet is contractual. Days after the Fury-Joshua card was announced, The Ring's Mike Coppinger reported that Matchroom's Eddie Hearn is challenging Dana White's proposed involvement, arguing Joshua's deal blocks any promotional role for the Zuffa Boxing boss. Fury, for his part, thinks the whole thing is close to dead in the water.

Why Benavidez Is No Consolation Prize

If this is a downgrade, it's a strange one. Fury openly rated Benavidez as roughly four to five times harder than Joshua, and insisted nobody should assume AJ is the tougher assignment. He went further, predicting Benavidez would stop Joshua inside three rounds. Coming from a man who'll fight anyone breathing, that's a hell of a compliment to hand a smaller opponent.

And Benavidez is smaller — for now. 'The Mexican Monster' has never boxed at heavyweight. He's a perfect 32-0 with 26 knockouts, and became unified cruiserweight king in May, dethroning Gilberto Ramírez via sixth-round stoppage for the WBO and WBA belts. His edge against Fury would be speed and lateral movement, a completely different puzzle than Joshua's raw power.

The timing is awkward, too. Benavidez has been linked to a unification with WBC champ Michal Cieslak on December 12, though Coppinger suggested he could fight a day earlier. That's the same weekend as the Cardiff card, which tells you how fluid the whole picture is.

For context on the man Fury's supposedly abandoning: Joshua sits at 29-4 with 26 KOs and is currently unranked, coming off a sixth-round knockout of Jake Paul. Fury's own last outing was a seventh-round retirement stoppage of Mariusz Wach. If the paperwork gets sorted, Cardiff still happens. If it doesn't, Fury's made it clear he's got a name — and a knockout prediction — ready to go.