Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn have turned British boxing into a laughing stock, suggests Tyson Fury

The 29-year-old believes there is a good chance he might never face Joshua because he refuses to do business with 'a pair of villains'

'I've had to come out of retirement to put British boxing back on the map' (Getty Images)

Tyson Fury feels compelled to face Deontay Wilder this year because he says the failure of Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua to secure a fight against the WBC champion has turned British boxing into a 'laughing stock'.

And the undefeated 29-year-old believes there is a good chance he might never face Joshua because he refuses to do business with 'a pair of villains'.

The 'Gyspy King' returns to action at Windsor Park in Belfast on 18 August when he takes on Francesco Pianeta but this week released a video on social media revealing that he is close to agreeing a December fight with Wilder too.

The big-punching American had looked set to face WBA, IBF and WBO champion Joshua for all the belts before the end of 2018 but after a breakdown in negotiations, the Londoner will instead face Alexander Povetkin at Wembley on 22 September.

Now Fury, still the lineal heavyweight champion, claims he will take advantage of the situation by facing Wilder in a money-spinning Las Vegas showdown this December, provided he comes through unscathed against Pianeta.

“This was been bubbling along for a while,” he said. “The fight has been in talks for months.

“Wilder and his people are just interested in fighting the best. They want to fight. The one thing I can say about Deontay Wilder is that he is brave.

“They tried to do a fight with Joshua, Joshua has run his behind in the bushes, they don't want no part of it. That's it.

“He (Wilder) wants to come after me. He wants to become the lineal heavyweight champion of the world and to do that he needs to beat me.

Fury said talks with Wilder and his team have been progressing nicely (Getty)

“But Joshua and Hearn are a pack of shithouses. They've no bottle, no heart and no guts.

“I'm taking this fight to prove to the British public what they are – shithouses.

“They're on form, he has had no time off, he's world champion and he's supposed to be the golden boy of British boxing.

“But I've had to come out of retirement to put British boxing back on the map because at the minute we are a laughing stock. The whole of America is laughing at us.

“It takes the Gypsy King to come out after three years to beat the best fighter out there.”

Hearn offered Wilder a flat fee of $15m to face Joshua, which would represent nearly 10 times more than the Alabaman's career-high pay day to date, but the terms were flatly refused.

The 'Gyspy King' returns to action at Windsor Park in Belfast on 18 August when he takes on Francesco Pianeta (Getty)

And the Matchroom Boxing boss says the situation has been hampered by Wilder's team, who he describes as 'painful to deal with'. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fury disagrees entirely.

He said: “They say Wilder is hard to deal with but I'm telling you it's very easy to deal with them. I've never met straighter, nicer people in my life – ever. But when you try and treat someone else like a dosser, and you want everything and to give them nothing then the fight isn't going to happen is it?

“They're all a pack of bums. When you're a world champion, nearly 30 and you won't fight other men, for millions of pounds, you're a bum and a shithouse and you shouldn't be involved in boxing.

“That's the end of it. I can't say any fairer.

“I was as fat as a pig, I had a lot of problems in my life, and I said 'offer me the fight and I will take it in two seconds flat'. Wallop. That is what a fighting man is, not afraid to take on anyone.

“And anyone who does take me on will get flattened. Nobody will be flatten me. There will be no shithouse here. I won't blame a contract or a few more million dollars on why a fight isn't happening.”

Fury said Hearn and Joshua were a "pack of shithouses" (Getty)

Hearn and Joshua already have 13 April 13 2019 locked in at Wembley Stadium and Wilder remains their top target to fill the slot. It has been suggested, however, that they may turn to Fury, who ended nearly 1,000 days out of the ring by beating Sefer Seferi in June, should Wilder reject them again.

But now Fury has suggested that the biggest fight in British boxing history might yet fall by the wayside entirely.

When asked if there is a chance that he and AJ might never fight, he said: “The way that Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua deal with people, I don't think that fight's possible to make – because they're not fair.

"If they were fair then they'd be fighting Wilder wouldn't they?

“I've told Eddie Hearn that there will be no fight unless they play fair and it's a level playing field. That's it. If they don't want to do that they can go and suck my big, hairy nuts.

“If you can't be fair in boxing, forget about it. It's a gentleman's sport – there is no room for crooks and businessmen. Everything has to be fair and straight. There is no skullduggery.

“It's not about money for me. What's a few quid? I'm already a millionaire. It's about being fair because I've been fucked over and robbed too many times before in my life. It ain't going to happen again.

“I'm not interested – at all. It doesn't even tickle my fancy because when you're messing with a pair of villains then you can't do business. It's simple. Unless you want to fly in a straight direction there'll be no business.”