By Tim Royner: Eddie Hearn says he spoke to former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on the phone on Wednesday morning, and he believes that a fight between him and IBF/WBA champion Anthony Joshua is possible in the summer.
Fury will need to take an interim fight in April in his comeback, while Joshua faces WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in March or April. If Joshua and Fury win their next fights, then the fight can take place between the stars in the summer. There will be huge obstacles that will need to be overcome for the Fury vs. Joshua fight to get.
The biggest obstacle right now, besides Fury needing to lose 60 to 80 pounds, is him getting his boxing license back from the BBBofC. Once Fury takes care of that problem, then he’ll need to come to an agreement with Hearn for the purse split for the Joshua fight. Fury wants a 60-40 split, but Hearn sees that a non-starter. Hearn is still optimistic that get the fight made, which means Fury will need to come down from his asking price for the fight.
“I spoke to Tyson Fury this morning,” Eddie Hearn said to Sky Sports News. “He even got in contact with Anthony Joshua at the weekend, so we’re all talking. Let me tell you, that’s a fight that we would sit down now and make for 2018.”
Hearn seems to have changed his tune quickly about the Fury fight. Recently, Hearn seemed less interested in making the Joshua-Fury fight until late in 2018, after Joshua has faced Parker and WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. But not it looks like Hearn wants the Fury fight to the Joshua’s second fight in 2018. You can read that as meaning one of two things. Either Hearn is concerned with whether Joshua can win the Wilder fight or he simply has no belief that he can get that match negotiated at that time. Wilder isn’t for as big a purse split as Fury for the Joshua fight. Wilder only wants a 50 percent cut compared to Fury’s 60 percent.
“We’re desperate to see him back. We’ll even give him a fight. It will be a massive return, but we are prepared to make the Tyson Fury fight for the summer or for the winter of 2018, unquestionably, but let’s see him back,” said Hearn.
It makes sense for Hearn to put the Fury vs. Joshua fight together in the summer if it can get made. If Joshua fights Deontay Wilder, he might lose that fight. It’s better for Joshua and Fury to fight each other right now while the two of them still have unbeaten record. If it’s a competitive fight, then they can face each other in an immediate rematch. The winner of the second Joshua-Fury fight can face Wilder if they have enough interest in that fight to make it at that time. It might be better for them to put off the Wilder fight until 2019. Wilder, 32 will be a little older at that time and less of a threat. Wilder is looking a little too good right now. Wilder has that one-punch power that makes him extremely dangerous for Joshua and Fury.
”Hold your breath, news coming soon,” said Joshua on his social media site on Wednesday.
The news that Joshua is talking about is very likely his unification fight against World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs). That’s the fight that Joshua presently attempting to make. Once he gets that fight out of the way, then he’ll turn his attention to the more lucrative fight against Tyson Fury.
Fury is going to be taking a tune-up in April. He’s probably not going to take any chances by facing a good fighter right away, especially if he’s still 50 pounds overweight. Fury coming into the ring at 300 pounds against anyone is going to put him in a satiation where he could lose just based on fatigue alone. Throughout his career, Fury’s game has been centered on his mobility. If you take that away from Fury, he’s going to be sitting duck for the bigger punchers in the heavyweight division.
A lot of the boxing fans outside of the UK just want to get the Joshua vs. Fury fight over with so that more serious fights can get made. Fury is so overweight, and he’s been out of action for a long time. Fury’s urgency to make the Joshua fight as quickly as possible suggests that he’s looking to get the big money fight and then retire. You can’t fault Fury if that’s his goal. Fury would have made a massive amount of money if his career didn’t get derailed after his fight with Wladimir Klitschko due to mental issues and an injury problem. With Fury looking to rush into a fight with Joshua, it looks like he’s in a hurry to get the payday and then get out of the sport. Another possible reason for Fury being so frantic about wanting to fight Joshua is him maybe wanting to take the fight before he loses to someone. Fury is still an undefeated fighter right now. The boxing public is still interested in seeing him take the fight with Joshua. That might change once Fury starts losing fights.