By Allan Fox: Eddie Hearn says he feels he’ll have an easier time negotiating a fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua than he would with Deontay Wilder.
It could be the worst thing for Hearn if Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) is victorious in his July 24th trilogy match with Fury this month because it could prove to be an obstacle to the undisputed championship getting made with Joshua.
Hearn says the two times that he attempted to negotiate a fight between AJ and Team Wilder, it went nowhere. They wouldn’t even talk to him.
Although Hearn had similar huge headaches recently trying to negotiate a fight between Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) and WBC heavyweight champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) for August 14th in Saudi Arabia, at least he was able to talk to Bob Arum.
We’ll have to see what happens if Wilder wins his trilogy with Fury. You’d have to assume that Top Rank will make a huge effort to persuade Wilder’s team to make a fourth fight between them.
It would be tempting if Wilder is offered a huge amount of money to face Fury again, but it’s also possible that he’ll move forward to take the more lucrative match with Joshua.
Hearn says it’s easier to make Joshua-Fury fight
“I think it would be easier for me to make a Tyson Fury fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social when asked what’s the best outcome for the Fury vs. Wilder III trilogy.
“At least there’s parts of his team that I can have cordial conversations with and Tyson Fury himself. I know him.
“Then on the other side [Wilder], the two times we tried to make the undisputed fight [with Joshua], one, I can’t even tell you the silence.
“It wasn’t even. They wouldn’t even have a meeting with it to discuss it. And to be fair to Tyson Fury’s side with Bob [Arum], there was a lot of work that went into that.
“Although I was driving that, when I would phone Bob, he’d pick up the phone immediately. So, yeah, a Tyson Fury victory would fill me with more confidence to make an undisputed fight with Anthony Joshua,” said Hearn.
Things might change with Team Wilder when it comes to negotiating with Hearn.
While they may not have been eager to make the fight with Joshua before, Wilder losing his WBC title and then potentially winning it back on July 24th could change their outlook.
If they feel that they’ve got to make the fight with Joshua as soon as possible due to Wilder showing vulnerability, they would likely be eager to negotiate.
Eddie felt Team Fury didn’t want the AJ fight
“I never felt like anyone was behind making that fight,” said Hearn about his difficulties trying to make the fight between Joshua and Fury for August 14th in Saudi.
“All I ever saw and read was, ‘Oh, he’s talking rubbish. He’s got a big mouth. He’ll never make that fight; he’ll never get a deal done.’
“All the time I was negotiating the deal, they were seeing those comments, and it made it even harder for me to get that deal over the line.
“Then I got the deal over the line, and it took Bob three or four weeks to say anything after the arbitration came in.
“Then he said we went back and got greedy and asked for more money, and that was the delay. It’s very simple. We put together an agreed number and deal that we should propose.
“All parties approved that deal. I went in and pitched it, and I got it done. There was no movement in money or people asking for more money.
“That was the deal that was approved by everybody. So he [Arum] just made it up out of nowhere.
“At the same time, the good thing about Bob, and I’ve always said it, you can go in and take his car, nick his house, shove him over and he would still phone you that night and make a deal for something else.
“I admire him for that, and I respect him for that. Although he is so outspoken and says some bizarre things, he’ll rarely let ego get in the way when there’s money to be made.
“So I don’t have any doubt if Fury wins and Aj wins, we can make that fight, and I would have more confidence in that scenario,” said Hearn.
It did seem like Team Fury wasn’t excited about making the fight with Joshua for August. Fury was complaining about being inactive and wanting a tune-up fight, and he had lost weight. It wasn’t a good time for Fury t be fighting Joshua.
Deontay Wilder wants to end the Tyson Fury trilogy in devastating fashion 👊 pic.twitter.com/87asZedUjd
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) July 6, 2021
The officials for the July 24th fight between Wilder and the ‘Gypsy King’ Fury are as follows:
Referee: Mike Ortega
Judges: Tim Cheatham, Dave Moretti, and Patricia Morse Jarman.