Photo Credit: File: Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury / PunchNG
Hearn Still Confident Joshua vs Fury Will Happen Despite Venue Row
Matchroom Boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn, says he remains optimistic that the long-awaited Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury heavyweight clash will be announced soon, despite a fresh standoff over the venue.

According to PUNCH Sports Extra, both fighters have already signed contracts for the fight, with Joshua’s agreement stipulating that the bout must hold in the United Kingdom.

However, organizers including Netflix and Saudi boxing financier Turki Alalshikh are pushing for the fight to be staged in the United States to take advantage of US prime-time viewing. Hearn accused the Saudi side of trying to breach the existing agreement by attempting to move the fight to Madison Square Garden in New York.

The promoter confirmed he has sent revised terms as an addendum that could allow the fight to hold in America, but described this week as a “crunch week” for negotiations.

“We’re running out of time. Well, we’re not running out of time because we’re ready,” Hearn told SunSport. “AJ’s already in a big part of his recovery from the last fight and he’s ready to go back into camp. But there’s a lot of stuff that’s being asked for us to do beyond the contract in terms of the media obligations… I think this week’s really the crunch week.”

Friday, November 20, at Madison Square Garden is still being targeted as the date and venue. Hearn disclosed that the revisions sent to Saudi-owned entertainment company Sela include a demand for a bigger purse for Joshua to offset the higher US tax rate. He added that if those terms are met, they will accept fighting in America.

He also warned that the “Battle of Britain” could be pushed to December, a scenario he said both he and Joshua want to avoid.

“Listen, if they turned around and said December, it’s probably better for the build-up… But we don’t want to push till 2027. Like, we don’t want to train over Christmas,” Hearn said.

“The deadline is they’ve got a contract to stage the fight in November or in December in the UK… We could just ignore them. But we’re not doing that because they’re our partners and they’ve been our friends and we do a lot of work together. But we want this fight in the UK. We just want what was promised to us.”

Joshua, 36, is coming off a comeback win in July where he rose from the canvas twice to knock out Albanian Kristian Prenga, 35. A day earlier, Fury, 38, stopped 46-year-old Pole Mariusz Wach in a seven-round warm-up bout, putting both former heavyweight champions on the same timeline as talks continue.
Source: Punch Newspapers –