By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury’s promoter Frank Warren denies that there have been any negotiations for a unification fight between heavyweight champions Fury and Anthony Joshua for December.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing is saying that he’s ready to “conclude a deal” for the Joshua-Fury fight, which suggests that he’s already started talks in putting the Joshua-Fury fight together. According to the BBC, Hearn has already reached out to Fury’s co-promoter Bob Arum to make the fight with Joshua.
Hearn ready to ‘conclude’ deal for Joshua-Fury
“We’re ready to CONCLUDE a deal and try to move forward to get that deal done for December,” said Hearn to bbc.com on the Joshua-Fury fight. “I believe there’s a real desire from both sides to get that fight done now.”
Hearn further stated that he just needs to sort out the broadcaster situation and where the Joshua-Fury fight will take place.
Has Arum been having conversations with Hearn without Warren knowing about it? For Hearn to be talking of concluding a deal, it sounds like he’s been talking to someone about putting the Joshua vs. Fury fight together for December.
Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) still needs to make a defense against his IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs), and Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) has a rematch against former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder that is expected to take place on July 18. Hearn doesn’t want to wait for those fights to take place before he starts negotiations for the Joshua vs. Fury unification match in December.
No conversations have taken place for Fury vs. Joshua fight negotiations
“The only way you’re going to get a deal is if people sit down and talk, and the people at Matchroom have contractual obligations,” said Warren to IFL TV on Hearn saying he wants to set up a fight between Fury and Joshua for December BEFORE their next fights. “That’s between all the parties. It’s not for somebody to Tweet and come out with some rubbish that’s not taking place.
“Bob Arum has not had those conversations. It’s just not happened, and nor can he have those conversations unless we’re all present. I prefer Pulev doesn’t fight AJ, and we can go straight to it as far as Tyson is concerned, but the contracts are the contracts and they have to be adhered to,” said Warren.
So there it is. Warren says there have been no conversations on a fight between Fury and Joshua. So why on earth is Hearn saying that talks have already started on the Fury-Joshua fight when they haven’t? Hearn is going to get everyone’s hopes up by talking about the Joshua vs Fury fight, and there could be a lot of disappointed fans if it doesn’t happen.
From a logical perspective, it doesn’t do Fury any good to negotiate a fight with Joshua before he faces Wilder in July. If Fury beats Wilder again, his position in the negotiations with Joshua will be strengthened. So why would Fury’s management try and hammer a deal together with AJ before that fight? It doesn’t make sense.
There isn’t a deal for Joshua-Fury in December
“My concern is with Pulev is he doesn’t upset the applecart. AJ will go in as the favorite, and there’s no doubt about that, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s an upset,” Warren in voicing concerns about Joshua potentially losing to Pulev. “All this rubbish that went out the other day about the deal is done.
“There ain’t no deal done. It’s misleading the public. No, there hasn’t,” said Warren when asked if there’s been talks between Fury’s management and Joshua’s promoters for a unification fight in December. “I haven’t had a single conversation. Bob [Arum] said yesterday that he’s not had a conversation,” Warren said.
Why would Hearn be telling the media that he’d had conversations for a fight between Joshua and Fury when they haven’t taken place? Is Hearn name-dropping Fury’s name to try and attract more interest in his trilogy fight with Wilder in July?
It’s hard to know. What’s clear is that a lot of boxing fans have no interest in seeing Fury face Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) again after the way he stopped him in the 7th round in their rematch on February 22. The fight wasn’t an evenly matched one, as Fury was so much better than Wilder.
Fury dominated ‘The Bronze Bomber ‘ in a way that makes it apparent that the third will be the same. Unlike Fury, Wilder hasn’t revamped his training team, so you can’t expect him to be improved in a third clash.
Hearn should worry about Pulev
“There’s only one person saying they’re having a conversation, and if I was him [Hearn], I’d worry about what he has in Pulev. He could be disregarding a problem there that could throw a spanner in the works. We want the fight, and Tyson wants the fight [against Joshua],” Warren said.
Hearn might be overlooking the threat that the 6’4 1/2″ Pulev brings to his June 20th clash against Joshua. It’s possible that the combination of Pulev’s age and the fact that he was blown out by Wladimir Klitschko in 2014 has Hearn assuming that Joshua will destroy him.
Pulev has the same fighting chance of beating Joshua as Andy Ruiz Jr. did in their first fight, and that’s why it doesn’t make sense for hearn to start negotiating for a December fight.
Fury gains nothing in negotiating a fight with Joshua right now because he stands to gain a lot by beating Wilder a second time. Joshua won’t get a lot of kudos from the boxing world by beating the 38-year-old Pulev, since he’s someone that hasn’t had a true test since his loss to Wladimir six years ago.
Pulev’s best wins since then have come against Dereck Chisora and Hughie Fury. Those are both fringe contenders and not the top-level fighters. Hearn is a little too eager to make the fight between Joshua and Fury, and he’s jumping ahead of himself. He needs to wait until both fighters when their next fights before he starts negotiations.