There is little to cheer about Tyson Fury, the self-styled Gypsy King, selecting ancient trial horse Mariusz Wach for his summer tune-up fight ahead of the much delayed and greatly diminished fight with Anthony Joshua later this year. Wach loses in meaningful fights. Always has. Always will.
As an advocate of Tyson Fury's abilities long before he reached the zenith of 2015 and his victory over Wladimir Klitschko in Germany, it hasn't always been easy to persevere in the role during the ensuing decade.
The self-imposed absences, the failed drug test, an association with one of Europe's most wanted men were all difficult truths for those enamoured with the former Heavyweight champion. Those misfortunes aside, the eternal presence of his father, stripped to the waist and being a nuisance at every opportunity, would often prove sufficient to discourage affinity with the Gypsy King. And yet, he retains enormous popularity, sells tickets and when motivated and active, delivers entertaining and decisive performances.
Now, in mid-2026, he stands in the departure lounge of an era he has shared with Oleksander Usyk, Deontay Wilder and, of course, Anthony Joshua. It is a sadness that Fury and Joshua didn't fight during their overlapping primes - perhaps more than once. There have been 7 fights between the quartet, but the two most lucrative and well known attractions have yet to meet in the ring. It would appear that in the late Autumn of their rivalries, Usyk v Wilder and Fury v Joshua will be belatedly added to complete the round robin, variously diminished by damage and age though all four have become, it will offer a degree of closure to the era.
In advance of those concluding fixtures, Joshua and Fury have opted to seek out tune up bouts to lubricate those parts worn by time and rusted by inactivity. Joshua has not been in the ring since his ludicrous demolition of the gurning barnacle Jake Paul and the tragedy of the fatal car accident he escaped earlier this year. Tyson Fury returned from yet another retirement a few months ago with a pedestrian outing versus 3-round clubber, Arslan Makhmudov. They both know the lustre of their fight is dimmed by time and there is a need to remind audiences of their power and brand. To assert, however falsely, that their mooted encounter remains important in an age of infinite distractions and the insanity of avoiding each other all this time.
A summer fight between the two would probably have been preferable for most fans, given both men are susceptible to defeat these days such is their respective decline and we, the manipulated masses having nothing new to learn about the pairing. Fury no longer boasts the reflex and timing of his peak and while aesthetically unchanged, Joshua is but a shadow of the rigorous front foot puncher he once was. They're both closer to 40, than 30, and both bear the scars of the slings and arrows of the boxing game and the game of life they play beside it.
If the evangelical among their fan bases needed any further confirmation of that erosion the feeble threat offered by the two men selected to oppose in those tune ups offers plenty of evidence. Fury announced this week he will tackle giant Pole, Marius Wach who is a decrepit 46 years old. He was destroyed in two rounds by a novice Moses Itauma two years ago, he lost every round of 10 to a 6-0 Frazer Clarke three years ago, lost every round of 12 to pumped up Cruiserweight Keven Lerana four years ago and was knocked out in 6 by the same Makhmudov in February 2022. Defeats to Hughie Fury in 2020, Dillian Whyte and Martin Bakole in 2019 provide full context as to just how 'safe' an opponent he represents.
Fury will knock Mariusz Wach out. Noise will be made.
But nobody should be fooled. It is a horrendous match up even viewed through the prism of the fight that lays beyond it.
And speaks volumes for the confidence of those charged with protecting and delivering the retirement bonanza of Fury v Joshua later in the year.
