For over a decade, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have been among boxing's biggest stars and highest earners, with title-winning highs and career-changing lows.
For a while, both held all four versions of the world heavyweight title between them (2019-2021) but failed negotiations, rematch clauses and defeats meant we have waited years to see them fight.
But their career paths are finally set to meet after it was confirmed this week that they will face each other at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on Dec. 11.
ESPN looks at the highs and lows of rivals Fury, 38, and Joshua, 37 in October, ranking their best and worst wins, losses, title reigns, knockouts and career-defining moments.
Best title reign: Joshua
Joshua's first reign was twice as long as Fury's best spell as champion, and he has also made more total world title defences (7) than Fury (3).
Joshua's first reign of six title defences saw him unify three versions of the world championship and is 12th in the list of most consecutive world heavyweight title defences ever. AJ's best reign included standout wins over Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin, which compares more favourably to Fury's second reign of three defences vs. Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora, who had lost three of his previous four fights before facing Fury.
AJ has also appeared in more world title fights than his rival, with a 9-4 record, compared to Fury's 5-2-1.
Worst title reign: Fury
Of their combined four reigns, Fury's first reign is the worst.
Fury lifted three versions of the world title with an outstanding points win over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 but then did not make a defence due to problems with alcohol, drugs and depression. He was also given a backdated two-year ban for a doping offence in December 2017 during a two-and-a-half-year absence from the ring until his return in June 2018.
Fury, for no fault of his own, also holds the record as the briefest-ever reigning world heavyweight champion. The IBF stripped Fury of their title belt 10 days after he beat Klitschko because he agreed to an immediate rematch instead of facing the governing body's mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov.
Worst losses: Joshua
Joshua has had two more damaging and humiliating defeats than Fury. As well as two points losses to Oleksandr Usyk, who is now bizarrely part of AJ's training team, Joshua was also stopped in big upsets by Andy Ruiz and Daniel Dubois. Those crushing defeats partly explain why we have waited all these years to get Fury vs. AJ.
While there is no disgrace in losing to Usyk, the best heavyweight of his generation, the loss to Ruiz counts as one of the biggest upsets in world heavyweight title history. Joshua was expected to comfortably deal with his fleshy challenger but was outboxed and outworked by the Californian who floored the champion four times in a Round 7 KO win at Madison Square Garden in 2019. Ruiz was called up as a replacement opponent on five weeks' notice and started as an 11-1 underdog. He recovered from a knockdown himself in the third round to drop AJ twice and then force the stoppage after two more knockdowns.
It was no lucky, wonder punch, and neither was it when Dubois sent Joshua tumbling four times in a Round 5 knockout five years later at Wembley Stadium. Joshua fell apart in a fight he was widely tipped to win and become a three-time world heavyweight champion.
Fury has only suffered two losses, both on points to Usyk and although he disputed both, most observers thought the Ukrainian deserved victory. But Fury can claim to have never been stopped in his professional career, unlike Joshua.
Best wins: Joshua
Fury's best wins include Wilder II (TKO 7), Klitschko (PTS UD), Wilder III (KO 11), Whyte (TKO 6), and Otto Wallin (PTS UD). Joshua's top five are Klitschko (TKO 11), Povetkin (TKO 7), Parker (PTS UD), Whyte (TKO 7), Ruiz (PTS UD), which might not stack up as well as Fury's best efforts that include three wins over dominant champions (Klitschko and Wilder), compared to one (Klitschko) for AJ.
But Joshua's superior tally of impressive knockouts, an Olympic gold medal triumph to finish his amateur career, and a greater number of title defences mean he has more impressive wins.
Best punch resistance: Fury
Fury has been given counts in six fights and went on to win four of them.
On a chaotic night in Altrincham in 2011, Fury was sent to the canvas by the considerably smaller and little-known Neven Pajkic in the second round. Fury got up to stop Pajkic a round later, but many thought it was a premature stoppage. Two years later, Fury's US debut at Madison Square Garden started badly when Steve Cunningham floored him with a right hand. Fury got up but was docked a point for a headbutt and the fight was close when he stopped Cunningham in the seventh round.
Wilder (2018 and 2021), Francis Ngannou (2023) and most recently Usyk (2024) have also forced Fury to take counts.
But apart from the first fights vs. Usyk and Wilder, Fury has always recovered from a knockdown to win. Fury used the ropes to hold him up two years ago vs. Usyk but he has also shown incredible powers of recovery to get off the canvas in the past, in particular vs. Wilder, who sent Fury to the canvas four times over their trilogy of fights. Wilder was considered the biggest puncher in boxing when he heavily floored Fury twice in Rounds 9 and 12 of their 2018 draw, but Fury somehow managed to haul himself to his feet and hear the final bell. Fury was also dropped twice in Round 4 of their third fight but his head cleared and he pulled off an 11th-round knockout.
Worst knockdowns: Joshua
Joshua has suffered 11 knockdowns as a professional: Prenga (two); Dubois (four); Ruiz (four) and Klitschko (one). Joshua, alarmingly for his team, suffered his latest scare vs. Prenga in his last outing and has been on the canvas in two of his last three fights. Within 20 seconds, the unheralded Prenga heavily floored AJ with a right uppercut. Joshua was still unsteady when he slumped to the canvas again later in the round, before recovering and knocking out Prenga in Round 2.
Fury has also shown recent vulnerability, after he was given counts vs. Usyk and Ngannou in 2024 and 2023, respectively. While he has been put down in two more fights than AJ, he has suffered fewer in total (nine): Usyk (one); Ngannou (one); Wilder (two and two); Pajkic (one); Cunningham (one).
Best KOs: Joshua
Joshua is undisputedly a bigger knockout puncher than Fury.
Fury has a KO ratio of 69%, after registering 25 KOs in a 36-2-1 record. Joshua has a 90% ratio, with 27 KOs in a 30-4 record.
Joshua has produced some savage and bone-crushing KOs in recent years vs. Ngannou and YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, but he has not delivered a KO in a world title fight since vs. Kubrat Pulev in December 2020. Fury produced a stoppage more recently in a world title fight vs. Derek Chisora in December 2022.
Joshua's highlights reel is an entertaining watch, whereas there is less to choose from with Fury. Joshua has delivered devastating KOs over the years and against top fighters. Whyte, Klitschko, Pulev, Robert Helenius, Povetkin, and Charles Martin were all victims of Joshua's explosive finishing, while lower-level opponents Paul and Ngannou were dealt with viciously.
Best KO win: Fury
When it comes to assessing who has produced the most memorable KO, it's Fury's two wins over Wilder compared to Joshua's efforts vs. Klitschko, Povetkin, Pulev and Whyte. Both Fury and AJ got off the canvas vs. Wilder and Klitschko respectively to stop their opponents, which makes it a hard call on who has registered the best KO win. Perhaps history will favour Joshua, since Klitschko was a more dominant champion than Wilder.
But I'll go for Fury vs. Wilder II, since Wilder, then 34 years old, was more dangerous with his sledgehammer right hand than a 41-year-old Klitschko when he fought AJ in his final fight. Fury dropped Wilder in Rounds 3 and 5 before forcing a Round 7 stoppage when Wilder's corner threw in the towel to save the wobbly champion from more punishment. Victory for Fury ended Wilder's reign in an eighth title defence.
Worst loss: Joshua
Joshua won back his three world titles within a year in a cautious points win over Ruiz in 2019, avenging a Round 7 loss to the American.
But the Round 5 KO loss to Dubois two years ago has been harder to rebound from. Joshua was bullied and sent sprawling to the canvas four times before he was eventually counted out. He was punished for dropping his hands early and his legs repeatedly betrayed him as Dubois landed punches.
Defeat left questions over whether Joshua would ever fight or be the same again. Those questions still remain after Joshua was dropped twice in the opening round versus low- ranked Prenga in July, before he recovered to win by Round 2 KO.
Best earnings: Joshua
While both have earned millions from the sport, Joshua has topped up his ring earnings with lucrative sponsorship deals. This has edged him ahead of Fury and despite recent setbacks, his worth was recently estimated at £240M ($320M) as he placed eighth richest for sportspeople's finances on the Sunday Times Rich List.
Best crowd: Joshua
Joshua vs. Dubois attracted 98,128 at Wembley Stadium, slightly bigger than the 94,000 who saw Fury vs. Whyte at the same London venue.
