Tyson Fury is running out of patience as the heavyweight champion waits to find out who his next opponent will be.
Fury's camp want Anthony Joshua to step aside from his planned rematch with Oleksandr Usyk after the latter's triumph in September.
That would allow Fury to go up against the Ukrainian in a heavyweight unification bout.
The Telegraph reported on Sunday that Joshua had agreed to forego the rematch and receive a £15million payout in return.
However, Joshua denied the claims a deal had been struck. Should nothing be agreed by Wednesday, then purse bids with Dillian Whyte – the WBC mandatory challenger – will go ahead, with that lined up as Fury's next fight instead.
In a video posted to his official social media channels on Tuesday, Fury, who defeated Deontay Wilder last year in the final fight of their trilogy contest, made it clear that he had had enough of waiting.
"Another gym session done, Tuesday morning smashed," the 33-year-old said.
"Tick tick tick effing tick tock is the subject of today. Is Dillian Whyte going to fight me? Is Anthony Joshua going to step aside?
"Let me know. Because I am sick of looking at these bums, sick of listening to their excuses.
"Tick tick tock. The time has run out of the bottle. You're all getting a good hiding – cowards."
Usyk, who is two years older than Fury, has won all 19 of his professional fights, including 13 knockouts.
Fury's record stands at 33 victories and one draw – the contentious first fight against Wilder in 2018.
Usyk sends Fury warning as he dismisses 'too easy' comments
Oleksandr Usyk issued a warning to Tyson Fury, urging him not to be "afraid" ahead of their highly anticipated rematch in December.
Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight since Lennox Lewis in May following his split-decision win over Fury, ending the Gypsy King's unbeaten record.
Fury insisted that while he thought he won the fight, the only reason Usyk had been able to deliver a late onslaught was that he was "enjoying it too much and messing around".
"Oh my god, no way! Okay, no problem. The next fight will be easy [for him too]," Usyk told Sky Sports in response to Fury's comments.
"For me, my fight will be hard because Tyson Fury is a big man, a good boxer, with a good boxing IQ.
"But if Tyson says for him it will be easy, ok, no problem. I see for Tyson Fury, I see for the eyes of Tyson Fury, it's not easy. It will be hard, very, very hard.
"Tyson, don't be afraid - I will not leave you alone."
Fury had started the contest in the ascendency, landing an uppercut to the chin of Usyk which staggered the Ukrainian in the sixth round.
However, Usyk showed his powers of recovery once again, unloading on Fury with a flurry of punches that forced a knockdown in round nine.
Referee Mark Nelson stepped in to give Fury a count as he stumbled across the ring with just the ropes keeping him upright, managing to survive the full 12 rounds.
"For me, it doesn't matter," Usyk said on the officiating in Saudi Arabia. "Every referee, it's a professional guy.
"The referee does his job. Maybe my last punch would be dangerous for Tyson Fury. It's good.
"Tyson has a big family, I have a big family. Listen, we win. Everything is ok. I do not think about the referee after the fight. We win, thank god, all good, everything is ok.
"A lot of people say, 'Oh the referee took your knockout win' and say 'Referee bad'. I think no, the referee is good. It's just talking. Blah blah blah."
Verstappen fumes at 's***' Red Bull strategy after finishing fifth at Hungarian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen raged at Red Bull's strategy after finishing fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix, declaring the team are no longer able to rely on a pace advantage.
Verstappen recorded his joint second-worst finish of the year at the Hungaroring as Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris in a McLaren one-two.
The three-time world champion's race was defined by a collision with old rival Lewis Hamilton, coming into contact with the Mercedes on lap 63 when he overshot a corner on an attempted overtake.
Verstappen vented his frustrations over team radio, telling race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: "You gave me this s*** strategy. I'm trying to rescue what's left."
Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, the Dutchman refused to apologise for those comments as he said: "I don't think we need to apologise.
"I just think we need to do a better job. I don't know why people think you cannot be vocal on a radio. This is a sport. If some people don't like that, then stay home."
Verstappen, who also dropped below Charles Leclerc late on, continued: "I'm not happy.
"On a day when we're lacking pace compared to McLaren, you hope we do the right things with strategy, which was not the case.
"You can't rely on a little pace advantage. Maybe last year when the car was quite a lot faster than everyone else, but in the position we are in now, we can't do that.
"Naturally that frustrates me because I want things to be done better. I'm realistic.
"Today we couldn't have beaten the McLarens, but a P3 was on the cards if we were on it a bit more."
Alexander-Arnold says Lineker's Euro 2024 criticism of England was warranted
Trent Alexander-Arnold admits England's players agreed with Gary Lineker's controversial description of the Three Lions' Euro 2024 performances as "s***".
Lineker hit out at England's display in a 1-1 group-stage draw with Denmark on his podcast, The Rest is Football, in comments that attracted a fierce response from captain Harry Kane.
Kane responded by saying former England players in the media had a "responsibility" when it came to discussing the national team, calling on them to be more supportive.
Alexander-Arnold, however, says many in the camp agreed with Lineker's criticism and feels some used it as motivation as the Three Lions grew into the tournament, finishing as runners-up to Spain.
"We had all seen it and heard it and felt it," the Liverpool ace told The Daily Mirror. "We all knew that we could be playing and performing better.
"It is never nice for someone to point that out but everyone deep down knew it within ourselves, too.
"It was something we were already thinking about, we knew we needed to be better. We had to add that to our performances, some players may have used that as motivation."
England created chances worth just 6.15 expected goals (xG) in their seven games in Germany, with only Scotland (0.32), Serbia (0.7), Slovenia (0.81), Albania (0.82) and Italy (0.84) averaging a lower xG figure per game than their 0.88.
The Three Lions needed a stoppage-time overhead kick from Jude Bellingham to overcome Slovakia in the last 16, a penalty shoot-out to advance against Switzerland in the quarter-finals and a last-minute Ollie Watkins winner to beat the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
After England's dramatic run ended with a 2-1 final loss to Spain, manager Gareth Southgate announced his resignation following eight years at the helm.
Alexander-Arnold believes the Three Lions' aim for the 2026 World Cup must be to finally get over the line, promising the squad will give their all for Southgate's successor.
"Everyone has a high expectation with England now and rightly so, it is true of us as players," he added.
"We feel we should be winning tournaments, that is the goal and standard we have set ourselves. That will be there for the new manager."
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