By Barry Holbrook: Eddie Hearn is optimistic that the Tyson Fury contracts vs. Anthony Joshua mega-fight will be signed by 4 weeks from now for what he believes could be the “biggest fight in history” of the sport.
Hearn says he can’t know how his fighter Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) deals with the negotiation process. He doesn’t know how Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) thinks, but he still expects the deal to get done.
Eddie says there’s a possibility that both fighters will receive $100 million each, as discussed recently. He said that would depend on the site fee for the location where the Joshua – Fury fight is staged.
He says he would like to have the fight take place at Wembley Stadium in front of 100,000 fans if possible, but he can’t count on crowds being allowed back into events by May.
That’s why Hearn has no choice but to stage the Joshua vs. Fury fight abroad in one of these countries:
- China
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Dubai
- Eastern Europe
- Singapore
- Australia
Hearn expects Joshua vs. Fury deal to be done soon
“The first part is right; talks are going great, and I expect a deal to be reached in the coming weeks. There’s certainly no location is secured,” said Hearn to iFL TV on the Joshua vs. Fury negotiations.
“We’ve had multiple offers. We haven’t gone too deep into that yet because we want to get the deal done. I don’t want to go and start approaching venues if we don’t have a deal in place for the fighters.
“So what we’ll do is make sure the fighters are happy with the terms, and then we go to the venues and look to finalize a deal. There have been some significant offers, there’s been some huge interest, but it’s still in play.
“Yep, there’s been an approach from there as well,” said Hearn about Singapore having approached him to stage the Fury vs. Joshua fight there.
“Yep [Saudi], Qatar, Dubai, China, a place in Eastern Europe, Australia. No, because we’re going to need 100,000 in Wembley even to consider that.
“In May, do you want to back that? Can you bankroll that gate just in case that doesn’t happen for me, please? I just think we got to get this fight made.
“Most importantly, not that I care about Fury, I want to make sure AJ is happy with everything, and then we’ll go to the market with Bob [Arum], and we’ll speak to the relevant parties that want to make the relevant bids for this mega-fight, and then we’ll collectively make a decision about what’s best for the fighters.
Joshua’s boxing fans have to be accustomed to him fighting outside of the UK by now, as he’s been traveling lately. The combination of the pandemic and his growing popularity makes it necessary for Joshua to take his fights to a foreign country.
This will likely be permanent for AJ, as he can make more money by going to other countries that are willing to pay huge site fees to stage his fights there.
Fury vs. Joshua the BIGGEST fight of all time?
“I think that’s possible, yeah,” said Hearn when asked if it’s true that Josua and Fury could wind up making $100 million EACH for their first fight.
“I mean, when you do a fight like that, it’s dependent on the site fee, and, of course, the pay-per-view revenue.
“It’s the biggest fight in boxing. It could be the biggest fight of all time. I mean, that’s the size of this fight that we’re talking about. It’s the ultimate,” Hearn said of Fury vs. Joshua mega-fight.
It’s a little early for Hearn to be calling Joshua vs. Fury the biggest fight of all time. It’s possibly the biggest heavyweight in British boxing history, but it’s not the biggest worldwide.
The Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao fight may be the biggest of all time following by the Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor match. It’s too bad those fights failed to deliver inside of the ring as far as entertainment.
Mayweather has a boring fighting style, and a lot of casuals didn’t know what they were buying when they ordered his fights against Pacquiao and McGregor. They got caught up in the hype surrounding those fights.
Fury’s fights are sometimes boring as well, especially when he’s forced on his defense. His win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 was quite dull, and his 12 round draw against Deontay Wilder equally bad.
Fury – Joshua negotiations going in the right direction
“Generally finalizing contracts, you know?” said Hearn when asked what does Bob Arum mean when he says ‘Talks are progressing?’ “Going through all the outstanding points and solving any stumbling blocks.
It’s difficult because I really don’t want to talk about it. Everyone gets bored. If you overtalk something, people get bored with saying, ‘It’s close, or it’s in closing.’
“So everyone wants to talk about it. It’s difficult unless you say, ‘I’m not talking about it,’ which is not our job really. But you say the same things all the time. ‘It’s progressing; when it’s time, we’ll let you know. ‘Oh, you keep saying it’s progressing,’ because it is.
“I keep being asked about it. All I can tell you is, we’re moving in the right direction. Hopefully, I believe we will get it done. I don’t know Tyson Fury,” said Hearn when asked about people asking him what percentage are the negotiations at,” said Hearn.
It sounds like Hearn is getting tired of the frequent questions about the status of the negotiations between AJ and the ‘Gypsy King.’ One positive is Fury’s promoter Bob Arum being optimistic about getting the fight made. It helps that Fury wants this fight, and he’s not dragging his feet.
Hearn experts Joshua – Fury contracts signed within 4 weeks
“That question comes in all the time. ‘What percentage?’ I don’t know,” said Hearn when asked how close he is to having the Joshua vs. Fury contract finalized.
“I thought 90s sounded pretty good. What about 95 if that makes everyone happy.
“Tyson Fury might wake up tomorrow and say, ‘I’m not doing it’ or ‘I’m injured’ or ‘I’m retired.’ I don’t have a relationship with Tyson. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but the vibe I’m getting is he wants the fight.
“I know AJ does. So what it comes down to is AJ is the boss. He has to be happy in this situation, and so far, he is. We have to go out and finalize the venue. Tyson has got to be happy, and AJ has got to be happy, and then we move forward.
“I can’t tell you. I want it signed today. Realistically within four weeks,” said Hearn when asked how soon he wants the contracts signed for Fury vs. Joshua fight.
“I’m giving myself a nice bubble. There will be drafting going on this week, next week. Everyone is ready to move forward and go to the market, really. Not really,” said Hearn, on which fighter [Joshua or Fury] gets their name listed first on the billboards in promoting the fight.
Disciple of Destruction 🩸 pic.twitter.com/24TmTMrtuF
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) January 15, 2021
“It hasn’t yet felt like it’s that kind of [fight]. Do you know what I mean? ‘I’m not going. If I don’t get that, the fight’s off.’
“I’ve been there before. I remember when Scott Quigg fought Carl Frampton, and it was like, ‘I get the first choice of the changing rooms,'” said Hearn.
Eddie says he thinks WBO mandatory Oleksandr Usyk won’t get in the way of the Joshua vs. Fury fight.
He’s suggesting that Usyk face Joe Joyce for the interim WBO title, and the winner of that fight will become the full champion after the winner of the Joshua vs. Fury fight vacates.