By Jim Strobridge: Promoter Eddie Hearn says both sides have agreed to the site offer for the Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fight, and they’re now moving forward to finalizing the deal.
Hearn says the fight will be announced shortly for the summer along with the date and the venue. He met with Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) yesterday, and he made it clear to him that this is the fight he wants against Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs).
Fury and his dad John had been showing signs of frustration this week at the slow progress towards locating a date and venue. Thankfully, they stuck it out, and they’ll now be glad they didn’t walk away.
The fight between AJ and Fury is expected to break pay-per-view records in the UK, with both fighters walking away with over $100 million each.
“What I will tell you is both sides have approved the site offer that they want to go with, and now we’re just finalizing the site deal and we’re in a great place,” said Hearn to Behind The Gloves on Joshua and Fury both having agreed to the site deal.
“I don’t represent Tyson Fury, but what he cemented in my mind was, this is the only fight he wants. I know that’s the same with AJ. We got the offer, we’re all approved, we’re moving forward, we’re good,” said Hearn.
The question boxing fans have is where will the Joshua-Fury fight take place. While it’s believed to be taking place in Saudi Arabia, it seemed odd that both Fury and Hearn posted photos on social media of the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada this week.
If the Joshua vs. Fury fight winds up in Las Vegas with a full capacity crowd of over 70,000 fans, it would be massive for the city. All the money that will be coming into Las Vegas would help revitalize things after a year of the pandemic has shut things down.
“I’m not going to go into where it’s going to be held, but it has been agreed by both sides the option we’re going to take, and you’ll get the date very soon and the official announcement.
“100%,” said Hearn when asked if the Joshua vs. Fury fight will be this summer. “That’s the thing. Everybody wants this fight as soon as possible. There is no option for this fight to go to the backend of the year. I’ve made that clear.
“That’s been the hardest thing about securing the site deal. In this world we live in today, most people would like to kick it to November or December. That’s not available, it was never available.
What was available was a summer fight for the heavyweight world championship. That’s what you’re going to get. Both guys want two fights this year.
“One will be in the summer and one will be in December. That’s the plan. It was just good to hear it from the horses’ mouth [Fury] yesterday to say, ‘We’re all in. This is the fight for us.’
“We kind of like animosity aside, that will start once the press conference starts.
“We have to work together to get this over the line, and everyone on his side has been proactive and they have been.
“Everyone is happy with the situation, and we just need the official announcement now and that’ll be very soon.
“You have to understand, this is quite a difficult process, particularly in this world. The question is, ‘What percentage chance?’ I don’t know. 90. ‘How long?’ I don’t know, 2 weeks. Everyone is like, ‘Two weeks are up. You said two weeks.’
“All I can say is, both sides are happy with the offer that’s on the table now and ready to move forward,” said Hearn on the Joshua vs. Fury fight site deal having been agreed on by both sides.