TYSON FURY put his New Year celebrations on ice as he continued his preparations to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
The WBC belt holder is on a collision course with Anthony Joshua in 2021 in a Battle of Britain that could be worth up to £500million.
That moved a step closer last month when AJ successfully defended his world titles with a ninth-round KO of Kubrat Pulev.
Negotiations over the super-fight are currently ongoing, with both fighters’ camps confident an agreement will soon be reached.
And with a potential legacy-defining fight on the horizon, Fury has been wasting no time in hitting the gym to get himself ready.
And even as many were popping the corks on New Year’s Eve, the 32-year-old was hard at it with a workout.
He shared clips of himself building up a sweat on his Instagram story, captioning them with ‘Working hard everyday’ and a second clip of him performing leg stretches with ‘Everyday work day’.
That comes a week after he did take time out from his preparations at Christmas to pose with his wife Paris in matching festive pyjamas.
Fury’s clips come on the back of rival Joshua’s own intense workout footage just 48 hours prior.
One snap showed AJ appearing to finish a one-arm press-up whilst wearing a weighted vest and an additional weight chain.
The second showed Joshua staring into the camera whilst wearing the equipment, which added a considerable amount of bulk to his already heavy frame.
The post’s accompanying caption included a padlock emoji and the word “in” – meaning he’s locked in on his next mission.
Joshua followed up that post with an update to his Instagram story, which included a post-sparring snap with cruiserweight prospect Stephen Adentan.
Although Joshua’s showdown with Fury has yet to be finalised, the Olympic gold medallist is confident he will share the ring with the WBC heavyweight champion next year.
In a guest column for Boxing News, Joshua said: “How close is the Fury fight? I promise you it’s happening.
“But until you hear it from me, don’t buy into anything. I’m serious about the fight so when I announce it you’ll know it’s real.
“I’m taking my time because there has been a lot of back-and-forth for years.
“I’ve been chasing this road to ‘undisputed’ and when the time is right I’ll announce it and I’ll have my mind fully focused on the job at hand.
“When it was Deontay Wilder in my way, that was my focus and he admitted we gave him lucrative offers that he turned down.
“Now it’s Tyson Fury that’s my pure focus. The offers will be made, substantial offers.
“I’ve fought many champions before so it’s obvious to see we’ve done business with world champions before.
“It’s no different with Fury, he should take this fight with both hands. The money will be split down the middle.”
