It means that over the space of 24 hours, Fury and Anthony Joshua will have their last fights before they finally face each other in November. Unless, of course, one of them loses.

The chances of that happening are so slim that they are almost invisible to the naked eye, but this is boxing and stranger things have happened. Boxing fans, British and otherwise, have learned to live with the fact that in this game, sometimes we simply cannot have nice things.

But, for the first time ever, at least we know the route to AJ-Fury. When the pair failed to deliver the head-to-head moment that everyone craved in the moments after Fury’s victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov in April, a few alarm bells began to ring. Then, an hour later, when Fury sat down for his post-fight presser, he did not seem too convinced the fight would happen, either.

In fact, he had told Joshua there was no need to take a warm-up fight and even suggested that he would retire again if his next opponent was not his long-term yet distant British rival. The irony, of course, is that once Joshua decided to fight Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia on July 25, Fury decided he could do with a run-out, too.

As far as warm-up fights go, Wach in a Muay Thai Stadium in Pattaya is about as weird as it gets, especially once you consider that Fury says it won’t even be televised. He does insist that all proceeds will be given to local charities, which at least provides one reason why this fight is more valuable to him than a hard spar in the gym.

They will fight July 24, the day before Joshua faces Prenga 4,000 miles east in Jeddah. It is a sign of the times that such a significant moment in British sport rests upon a pair of fights on the other side of the world.

But should they both come through victorious and without any major cuts or bruises, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua can finally share the top table at a press conference to announce their fight. Both well over 35, this showdown will come far later than anyone wanted or expected, but had they ended up never fighting, British boxing would have carried that scar forever.

So, no disrespect to Wach or Prenga, but this writer will have everything crossed for a 24-hour period over the final weekend of this month. At a time when the England football team has reminded us what sporting success can provide society, British boxing needs Fury-Joshua more than ever.

The presence of Canelo Alvarez at Stadium Azteca on Sunday, when Mexico hosted England in the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup, would have sent a shiver down the spine of most British boxing fans.

The Guadalajara icon is one of history’s greatest Brit bashers, having beaten no fewer than eight from these shores. That run started in March 2011 when he outpointed Matthew Hatton to win his first world title and ran all the way to May 2023 when John Ryder suffered the same fate. Between those two, Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith, Rocky Fielding, Liam Smith, Amir Khan and Ryan Rhodes were, too, vanquished.

So forgive me for fearing the worst when Canelo not only rocked up in Mexico City but also gave a stirring speech as part of a halftime show of sorts. We know what normally happens when he is in the same arena as Englishmen, but this time he would finally be on the losing side. Probably a good omen for Hamzah Sheeraz, who may become Canelo’s ninth and final British opponent before he hangs up his gloves.

Staying on the World Cup theme, Sunday was also a great night for promoter Frank Warren, himself a huge football fan still basking in the glory of Arsenal’s Premier League title triumph.

In one of the more surprising Twitter exchanges last week, Warren had responded to a post from Ryan Garcia, who had predicted that Mexico would beat England at Azteca. The pair agreed to a $100,000 straight bet on the match result so it was Warren who claimed the cash when England won 3-2.

"That was exciting, true Brit grit, like winning a fight with two broken hands in the other guys backyard. Viva England,” said Warren, who confirmed that his winnings will be split evenly between BoxWise foundation and DEBRA UK.

Late last week I was informed by a source close to the situation that not only was Tony Yoka out of his scheduled clash with Murat Gassiev but that the news could mean a stunning opportunity for none other than Joe Joyce.

The Londoner has not boxed since April last year but is preparing to return on the undercard in Russia. When Yoka pulled out injured, the 40-year-old emerged as a viable replacement for the Frenchman who beat him in the 2016 Olympic final. Given he has lost four of his last five, a world heavyweight title shot for Joyce was not on anyone’s bingo card for 2026.

However, just when it looked like Joyce would step in to face Gassiev on July 11, win the belt via crushing knockout, then unify the whole division, it turns out he will not be getting the call up for the main event after all. He will box Artem Suslenkov as originally planned while Gassiev will defend his WBA belt against Peter Kadiru instead.