By Marcus Richardson: Former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) doesn’t like the way Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is trying to dictate terms with him in the negotiations for a fight in late 2018.
The two spoke recently about the Joshua fight, and the conversation apparently wasn’t a good one. Fury says he is not sure if there will be a fight between him and Joshua. He’s hoping the fight can get made, but right now he’s questioning it. Fury says he’s already given up on the idea of fighting Tony Bellew next year after they failed to agree to the contract.
Fury wants the Joshua and the Bellew fights to be negotiated his terms. He wants the lion’s share of the money for the Joshua fight. Fury isn’t saying what he wants for the Bellew fight, but it’s likely that he’ll want the bigger purse split for that fight as well.
“They had the option to sign the contract. They didn’t sign it,” said Fury to Fighthub in talking of the possible Bellew fight in 2018. “If he does, it’s going to be my way or the highway.”
Bellew will be fighting David Haye in a rematch in May of next year. If a fight against Fury does happen, it’ll probably take place in the summer. Bellew asking for a big cut of the money for the Fury fight could be a deal-breaker. Fury isn’t going to want to give Bellew a 50-50 split of the purse. If Fury were to do that, he would sink his chances of getting equal money fighting Joshua. That’s one reason why it’s not a good idea for Fury to fight Bellew first. Hearn might choose to use the negotiations as leverage to get a better deal for Joshua when he faces Fury.
“The question is will that fight happen or not,” said Fury. “If we can’t come to an agreement, then there’s not going to be a fight happening…Let’s hope they sign the contact and get the fight on,” said Fury.
Joshua taking the smaller money for a fight with Fury is hard to fathom right now. Hearn won’t let that happen, and Joshua will likely never give his blessing to that idea. Joshua is going to see himself as the A-side in the Fury negotiation, considering he’s been doing good numbers on PPV and at the box office.
Fury’s asking price might be too high for the Joshua fight to get made in 2018. Hearn wants Fury to Joshua, Bellew and Whyte in 2018. Of those 3 fights, only the match against Whyte would seem to have any chance of being made. Fury vs. Whyte won’t bring in the kind of money that matches against Bellew and Joshua will. Those are the fights that need to be made, but they’re also the least likely to occur at this point.
If Fury is willing to bend to Hearn and Joshua’s wishes by taking the smaller cut of the purse, that fight can be easily made. Fury is a proud man. It’s going to be hard for him to admit that Joshua deserves more money than him. That’s the only way the Joshua-Fury fight gets made right now.
“I just see them trying to dictate everything, and I will NOT be dictated by nobody,” said Fury. “They have to meet my demands or nothing. It’s as simple as that,” said Fury.