Tyson Fury stops Mariusz Wach to keep Anthony Joshua fight alive

Tyson Fury fulfilled his side of the bargain for a potential heavyweight blockbuster against Anthony Joshua by stopping the veteran Polish fighter Mariusz Wach in Pattaya, Thailand.

About 1,500 fans watched the bout, which had no live broadcast, and saw Fury largely dominate his overmatched 46-year-old opponent, who slipped to an eighth defeat in his past 11 contests. While Wach remained upright, he was pulled out after the end of the seventh round by his corner, battered into submission by Fury, who made it back-to-back wins in 2026 after a 16-month layoff.

All eyes will now turn to Joshua’s fight against unheralded Albanian Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night — although Fury said he is not planning to be in attendance. If Joshua is victorious then it should pave the way for a long-awaited and much-anticipated “Battle of Britain” against Fury.

After Joshua announced he would return to the ring against Prenga — his first fight since being involved in a car crash in December in Nigeria that killed two of his closest friends — Fury also decided on a tune-up, having outpointed Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov in April.

For only the fourth time in 39 fights and the first in 15 years, Fury was leaner than his opponent after clocking 265lb, nearly two stone lighter than Wach, who was 291.4lb at Thursday’s weigh-in. The 6ft 9in Fury had the height and reach advantages, though, and used his jab to control the range, as well as switching between orthodox and southpaw stances to confuse his rival.

While Wach is a former world title challenger, losing to Wladimir Klitschko in 2012, he is a fading force and was stopped inside two rounds by rising British prospect Moses Itauma two years ago. Wach found the target with the odd right hand but Fury was the busier and more punishing fighter, at one point landing five uppercuts in a row to the cheers of a partisan crowd.