Frank Warren claims Anthony Joshua has REJECTED the chance to face Tyson Fury in September

Frank Warren says Tyson Fury is ‘desperate’ to fight Anthony Joshua this summer at Wembley but claims the fight is unlikely to happen as AJ turned down the opportunity.

Fury took to social media earlier this week to confirm he was back in talks with AJ about a September match at Wembley and even said he had sent Matchroom a draft contract.

However, Warren has dashed all hopes of the two British heavyweights facing each other this summer – stating that AJ has turned down the chance to fight the Gypsy King as he is focused on taking on Deontay Wilder.

This isn’t the first time Fury and Joshua’s negotiations have broken down. The pair were in talks about a Battle of Britain fight last year before the Gypsy King walked out after getting impatient waiting for AJ to sign the contract.

Negotiations for the highly anticipated fight had been going on for months before both sides declared that the fight – which was scheduled for December 3, 2022 – was officially off.

However, Warren says Joshua (left) turned down the opportunity after stating he didn’t want to take the fight to Fury (right).

The news comes shortly after Fury took to social media to announce they were back in talks

Fury hoped a deal would materialize this time after Queensbury Matchroom sent ‘a written proposal’ for the fight. However, according to Warren, AJ “chose not to take the fight.”

Speak against talkSPORT, Warren said, ‘Let me clarify what actually happened. “Last week a written proposal was sent to Matchroom for AJ to fight Tyson in September.

“Eddie Hearn came back and spoke to my son George, who said it will take a few days to see where they are with it.

“A few days went by and George met with AJ’s management company yesterday. They have confirmed that AJ will fight in Dubai in December, which is his preferred route.”

Warren added, “There’s a space open in August, but they don’t really want to fight. That’s what happened.

“When Tyson said there was a draft contract, it happened that the last time we negotiated we had drafted a contract.

So there was nothing to worry about in terms of negotiations, it was just whether they wanted the fight or not.

“So the situation is that Tyson is desperate for the fight to happen the way he was against Usyk. But AJ chose not to fight and that’s where we are.”

When asked if he thought there would be a Battle of Britain clash in the future, Warren said: “The terms were agreed on a battle to take place, but the only reason it didn’t happen is because Frank Smith of Matchroom said the fight never would have happened anyway because AJ wasn’t ready. And most importantly, he had no trainer. So that’s where we are.

He continued, “I don’t know why AJ can’t fight in September and then fight Wilder in Dubai.

“If AJ is beaten by Wilder in December, I don’t think so [the fight will happen] because he was allegedly beaten by a person who hit Fury three times. Now is the time to fight, this is what we should all focus on.”

Warren said Joshua was focused on fighting Deontay Wilder (above) before facing Fury

Warren fears there will never be a Battle of Britain clash with Fury if AJ loses to Wilder

Joshua defeated American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin in April to return to winning ways after his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk.

There have been suggestions that the proposed fight between Joshua and Wilder in Saudi Arabia could be part of a tournament-style event.

The tournament could also see Fury face Usyk after talks about a possible fight between them in April fell through.

However, Usyk must first beat Daniel Dubois – with Alex Krassyuk claiming they want to stage his world title defense against the 25-year-old in Poland this summer.