While there is no widely documented example of a sitting head of state physically accompanying a fighter on a major boxing or MMA ring walk, Tyson Fury could become the first to challenge that distinction. The former WBC heavyweight champion has reportedly expressed an interest in having President Donald Trump accompany him for his ring walk at the showdown against Anthony Joshua, now set for December 11 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

“I’ll definitely make that offer to my old buddy, old pal, and we’ll see if he’s available,” Fury appears to have told Sky Sports during an interview. “Probably unlikely because of the situation he’s in at the moment, being the President of the United States.”

It is difficult to speculate on why Fury came up with such a request, which many would view as bizarre. The former heavyweight champion appears to have developed a close public relationship with Donald Trump. Fury met the U.S. president at UFC Freedom 250, which took place at the White House South Lawn on June 14, 2026.

Reportedly, the English heavyweight appeared at the event wearing a cap that said, “Donald Trump for Prime Minister.”

More recently, in an interview with Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, Fury revealed how Trump resolved his long-running U.S. visa issues. “It all got done through Dana (White), on Donald Trump’s table, and Donald Trump just went, ‘Bang, Tyson’s a great guy, come on in!’ And that’s how it works. That’s how G’s go; they make s*** happen,” he said.

Fury has repeatedly turned his ring walks into elaborate spectacles. Against Tom Schwarz in 2019, he channeled Rocky IV’s Apollo Creed, wearing an Uncle Sam-style outfit with a top hat and entering James Brown’s Living in America.

For the 2020 Deontay Wilder rematch, Fury was carried on a throne while wearing a crown and robe as Patsy Cline’s Crazy played. Against Derek Chisora in 2022, his Wembley entrance featured a throne, fireworks, and a musical sequence ending with a Kings of Leon number.

But Fury is not the first fighter to explore this idea.

Beyond Tyson Fury: Gloves, rings and heads of state

Before UFC 296 in 2023, Colby Covington reportedly said Trump had agreed to walk him to the Octagon. However, Dana White seems to have rejected the plan because of the security and logistical complications surrounding the Secret Service detail of Trump, who did not hold the presidency at the time. Trump instead watched Covington’s fight against Leon Edwards cageside.

Covington was not the only UFC fighter to embrace Trump’s presence at a major event. Ahead of his appearance at UFC 244 on November 2, 2019, where he faced Nate Diaz for the symbolic BMF title, Jorge Masvidal, during an interview with TMZ Sports, teased, “Of course (I’m honored), no matter what your political views on him, not every fighter can say, ‘Hey, the president is showing up to my fight.’

“So that’s humbling in itself, especially when there are other fighters out there trying so hard, saying, ‘Hey, Mr. President, look at me,’ and the president won’t even go to their fights, look at them, or acknowledge them.”

Trump eventually attended the card, becoming the first sitting United States president to attend a UFC event. But there is no strong evidence that Masvidal arranged for Trump to lead his entrance, as some reportedly believed.

Beyond ringwalks, several heads of state have had remarkable connections to boxing, though.

Before becoming Uganda’s president, Idi Amin was the country’s light heavyweight champion from 1951 to 1960. He is even reported to have boxed against the national coach in 1974 at an African championship opening ceremony. When he was an MP, Canada’s former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defeated Senator Patrick Brazeau by third-round stoppage in a 2012 charity that later became part of his political image-building.

Most notably, President Theodore Roosevelt regularly boxed at the White House before an Army aide injured his left eye, eventually ending his boxing.

Against that backdrop, Fury’s interest in having President Trump walk him to the ring in front of an 80,000-strong crowd could be viewed as a stamp of approval from the U.S. presidency for a fight in which he currently appears to be the odds-on favorite.