Tyson Fury ignored Anthony Joshua’s challenge over the weekend by opting out of a star-studded boxing awards ceremony.

The Ring Magazine event in London saw the who’s who of boxing gather, but Fury was notably absent despite his first bout with Oleksandr Usyk being honoured as the event of the year.

Joshua had taken to Instagram before the event, posting an image of Fury with the caption: “Looking for this man tonight @ringmagazine”, in hopes of a face-off at the ceremony. However, Fury was nowhere to be seen.

Boxing enthufansiasts are eager for a showdown between Joshua and Fury this year, with AJ expressing his commitment to “deliver” the much-anticipated fight. Speaking at the awards, Joshua reflected on his recent break from the ring: “After my last fight I took some time out,” he said.

Anthony Joshua has called on Tyson Fury to make a blockbuster Battle of Britain heavyweight clash happen between the pair ‘this year’ as a renewed AJ insists he has taken time to ‘heal’.

It has been two months of self-healing for Joshua who upon being knocked out by Daniel Dubois when attempting to become a three-time heavyweight champion in October faced calls to leave the sport.

However, the London-born superstar isn’t planning on throwing the towel in on his career just yet and vowed to do everything possible to make a fight with career rival Fury finally happen this year.

Both fighters look short of title opportunities as we begin 2025 after Joshua lost to Dubois and Fury was again beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in the pair’s heavyweight title rematch at the end of last year.

Boxing fans worldwide have been dying to see the pair throw down for the best part of ten years and have taken aim at their promoters for not making the fight happen sooner.

But Matchrom Boxing chief Hearn has defended all parties involved, telling Betfred: “[There’s] number of reasons [why it hasn’t happened yet].

“The time it was going to happen, which was the time we signed for the fight, was when Tyson had his arbitration with Deontay Wilder for the rematch.

“We signed to fight Tyson Fury and I believe Tyson was going to fight Anthony Joshua, but through the court ruling, he had to fight Wilder.

Fury and Joshua were at the peak of their powers when they were on course to fight for the heavyweight marbles in 2021.