Former IBF cruiserweight champion Glenn McCrory has cast doubt on the long-awaited showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, suggesting that the bout may never take place.

For the past five years, boxing fans have eagerly anticipated a clash between these two heavyweight titans, but multiple attempts to bring them together in the ring have failed. The closest they came was in 2021, when both fighters held all four major sanctioning body belts between them. An agreement was reached for a two-fight deal in August of that year, but a US court ruling allowed Deontay Wilder to exercise his option for a third fight with Fury, derailing those plans.

Since then, both Joshua and Fury have lost their world titles to Oleksandr Usyk. Despite this, there remains a possibility that the two could compete for undisputed supremacy if they win their upcoming fights. Fury is set to rematch Usyk for the WBA, WBC, and WBO titles on December 21, while Joshua will challenge newly upgraded IBF champion Daniel Dubois on September 21.

Saudi boxing chief HE Turki Alalshikh has expressed a desire to stage Joshua vs. Fury in March 2025, assuming both fighters emerge victorious in their respective contests. However, McCrory believes that the fight has lost much of its former allure.

“Often the fights you really want to see don’t happen, and a couple of years ago that was a tremendous fight, but they’ve missed the boat,” McCrory told talkSPORT.com. “I’m not sure that will ever happen, to be fair. If Fury doesn’t perform against Usyk, then he’s done everything and has made enough money to air-condition hell.”

McCrory added, “It’s the same thing if Joshua doesn’t perform against Dubois. They don’t need it, and when the hunger is gone, a fighter is never the same. Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have done great things for British heavyweight boxing. For a time, we were a bit of a laughing stock when it came to the top heavyweights in the world, and Joshua and Fury have changed that.”

The former champion also believes that both fighters may have already peaked. “I think we’ve seen the best of both. There comes a point in every fighter’s life when they hit their peak, and the rest is the slide down. Both those fighters now are over the top.”

Should Joshua defeat Dubois and Usyk overcome Fury, there remains a chance that Joshua could face Usyk for a third time. However, Usyk has expressed a desire to move back down to cruiserweight to become a two-time undisputed champion after his rematch with Fury, making it uncertain whether he would entertain another bout with Joshua.

The boxing world continues to wait with bated breath to see if Joshua and Fury will ever settle their rivalry in the ring, but as McCrory points out, the window of opportunity may have already closed.