Tyson Fury has labelled Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn as “cowards” in response to fresh reports that their long-awaited showdown could be called off.

It was announced earlier this week that the two British heavyweights will finally collide on December 11, headlining a Netflix and Ring event at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

According to promotional material, it is a fight that has been 10 years in the works, essentially since ‘AJ’ claimed the IBF world title and Fury was serving a two-year doping ban.

Of course, the pair have not been in negotiations for that long but, still, there have been multiple failed attempts at getting their domestic dustup over the line.

And now, despite the arrival of an official announcement, it would appear that certain issues behind the scenes could prevent the fight from taking place.

One of which could be the ambiguous involvement of Zuffa Boxing promoter Dana White, who Matchroom boss Hearn has repeatedly attempted to block from negotiations, pointing out that the contract prohibits him promoting the event.

Whatever the specifics, though, Fury has taken to social media and accused Joshua and Hearn of looking for a way out.

“Breaking news: Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are trying to pull out this fight. They’re saying they’re not gonna fight now; they’re little s**thouse cowards.

“It’s mainly to do with Eddie Hearn’s ego – he’s making up a million different things and threatening ‘we’re not gonna fight’. You little coward.

“AJ, pull your finger out you little white flag, yellow belly coward. The Gypsy King is coming back to the UK to thrash you in front of all my fans in Wales.

“Now you’ve got Turki Alalshikh finding alternative, real men who will fight at the drop of a hat … I’ve never seen anything like this, and it’s mainly to do with Eddie Hearn’s ego.”

In terms of “alternative” opponents, Fury is perhaps referring to a bizarre social media post by The Ring’s Mike Coppinger, who claims that unified cruiserweight champion David Benavidez is being explored as a replacement for Joshua.