By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury posted a Tweet on Wednesday, hinting that he’ll bail out of the Anthony Joshua unification fight in 3 days if the venue isn’t found and agreed on the April 10th deadline.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said this week on the AK & Barak show that he believes he’ll be ready to offer the choices for venues to AJ and Fury this week.
It might be better for Fury. He’s not comfortable about taking the fight with Joshua without a couple of tune-up fights. We’ve heard Fury complain about being inactive. If he’s not happy, he should walk away.
I mean, Fury would have an excuse if he does pull out if Hearn fails to meet the April 10th deadline for the venues. Look at it this way.
If Fury sticks it out and loses the fight to Joshua, he may throw a tantrum and blame his loss on the fact that he’s been sitting for over a year without fighting. It’s utterly predictable how Fury will react.
Fury looks like he’s really aged physically in the last year and a half. At this point, I don’t think Fury can afford to wait too much longer for the Joshua fight.
Hearn lagging with the venues
It looks like Friday is the magic day for Hearn to reveal Fury and Joshua’s venue choices to decide upon. But if Hearn fails to do that, it’ll be interesting to see if Fury bails out like he’s hinting.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) wants to keep his career in motion, and it’s been impossible for him to do so given the glacial pace of the negotiations.
“Basically, at the end of this week, we’re going to present all the options to the fighters,” said Hearn to the AK Barak Show on the venues.
It’s unclear what Fury will do if he pulls out of the fight. He can, of course, give former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder the trilogy match that he’s been clamoring for since last year.
There would be a lot of money for Fury facing Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs), but it would be a risky one for him, but that shouldn’t matter.
Once the Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) fight is off the table, Fury can return to fighting the best possible contenders, which means we should see him fight Deontay Wilder and Dillian Whyte in back to back fights in 2021. Those would be dangerous fights for Fury and may not win.
If Fury loses to Wilder or Whyte, he can forget about two massive payday fights against Joshua under the same 50-50 split. Fury can still get the Joshua fight, but it won’t be at a 50-50 split, obviously.
Fury giving timeline reminder
⏰ ⏰ ⏰ pic.twitter.com/GRN9UowO4d
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) April 7, 2021
“It’s up to them,” said Hearn about Joshua and Fury needing to decide on which venue when he presents the choices to them. “What they want to do, where they want to go, and we’ll get this thing on.”
At this point, Hearn needs to come up with the venues so that Fury and Joshua can agree or disagree. If they disagree, the fight won’t happen at this time.
It won’t be the end of the world if the two fighters disagree on a site. They can always revisit the negotiations in 2022, and perhaps a new venue will surface that will be to the liking of Joshua or Fury.
With both guys advertised to be making $100 million each, it might be a shock to them if the money offered to them comes in well below that figure.
That’s why it was perhaps a bad idea for Hearn to start throwing around numbers because he may have set unrealistic expectations that can’t be met.
If Fury is thinking he’s going to take his $100 million and purchase J Paul Getty’s Sutton Place in Surrey, he may be in for a shock if he can’t afford it if he fails to receive that kingly sum that he thought he was getting for the AJ fight.