Fury and Joshua had a golden opportunity to bring their long-anticipated showdown to a promotional crescendo last month, moments after Fury beat Arslanbek Makhmudov in front of 60,000 fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, and millions more watching globally on Netflix.

“The Gypsy King” grabbed the mic and challenged Joshua in a made-for-TV moment. Joshua, who was sitting ringside, called Fury a clout chaser and labeled himself the boss as he refused to enter the ring or engage in much banter.

The sequence and missed opportunity to build buzz for their bout left Fury befuddled.

“I do believe if I fought like a nugget and got knocked all over the place and just about scraped through, they’d have been jumping up and down for a fight, like, ‘Yeah, we’ll have to fight next,’” Fury said on his YouTube channel, FurociTV.

“But because I just took out a world-ranked contender, they weren’t so keen. All of a sudden, they need another fight now in between, which wasn’t the plan before that. The fight was signed. Turki Alalshikh wanted us to get in there and have a proper face-off, and Joshua bottled it at its biggest moment with the world watching. He choked. He didn’t say three words. He sat at ringside and didn’t do anything after 10 years of simmering on boil. We’re finally both signed and he doesn’t have anything to say – proper sausage.

“Here's the facts of this fight – me beating Joshua doesn't do anything for my career, nothing. It doesn’t enhance me. Everyone expects me to beat him anyway. I’m an odds-on favorite, heavily. The world expects me to beat this guy. But if he could ever beat me, they’ll say he’s changed. So, the clout chaser is him. I’ll knock him out, for sure. He can’t and won’t be able to survive against me. He doesn’t have a chin and I’ll bang him on it because I’m quicker than him and I’m a better boxer ... I’ll put him back where he should be – ‘Bambi On Ice.’”

Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) is scheduled to face a huge underdog, Kristian Prenga (21-1, 20 KOs), on July 25 in Saudi Arabia. His tune-up fight will take place seven months after Joshua survived a car accident that killed two of his friends in Nigeria.

Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) has also teased another tune-up fight for August ahead of the all-British battle between former two-time heavyweight champions. Fury-Joshua is slated to take place sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, assuming the rivals win their upcoming bouts.

The loquacious Fury however, curiously cast some unnecessary doubt about the much-desired contest.

“Listen, I might get knocked out in my next fight in August,” Fury said. “So, then it’s all over. So, I got to take it one fight at a time. They’re all deadly, serious fights. So, one step at a time, as I’ve always done.”

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.