By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury took to social media on Friday to vent about Anthony Joshua not signing his portion of the contract to face him on December 3rd in the UK. Fury went on an expletive-filled rant today, trashing Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
Eddie Hearn says there are still issues in the contract that need to be restructured before they can move forward.
The problem is there isn’t a lot of time to work through the issues before December quickly. Hearn says it’s possible they’ll run out of time, and the fight won’t happen in December.
Joshua wants the fight with Fury, but it might not be possible to deal with the many problems in the contract before December.
“There was a lot that wasn’t right with the contract. It’s not unusual,” said Eddie Hearn to Secondsout. “Since then, we’ve had positive conversations, and we’ve restructured that contract. Time is of the essence.
“They’re putting pressure on us that we need to move forward. Obviously, we need things to be right as well. We’re not looking to be difficult, either. Everything is moving in the right direction. Joshua wants the fight. He’s training for the fight.
.@anthonyjoshua @usykaa pic.twitter.com/MuorGi8Tzp
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) September 23, 2022
“Could time stop us? Maybe. I hope not. It depends on how quickly everyone moves and how serious they are as well. From our point of view, we’re not playing games here. He’s ready to take the fight.
“That’s an issue for sure, and it’s a little bit out of our hands,” said Hearn about the broadcasting rights for the Fury vs. Joshua fight. I’m talking about Matchroom and Queensbury’s hands because BT and DAZN have to get together and work that out.
“ESPN in America, the same thing. No one is saying, ‘We’re not going to do that. We’re not going to have those conversations,’ but the contract has to be right at the same time.
“Generally, the conversations have been good, and everyone is working to try and get it done. I think in an ideal world, that’s sensible,” said Hearn when told that Joshua’s trainer Robert Garcia would like for him to have some tune-ups before facing Fury.
“You’re coming off two defeats in with another great heavyweight. Also, we may never get the opportunity again to fight Tyson Fury, and AJ has always wanted to fight Tyson Fury. So he’s prepared to take that challenge now.
“We think he can beat him. We wouldn’t be taking the fight otherwise. Of course, we’d like to come in with a couple of wins, but also, maybe this is a good time to take the fight because they think it’s a good time to fight Anthony Joshua.
“Maybe they’re right, but AJ wants to take the challenge. He wants to fight Tyson Fury. He believes he can beat him. We’re all in. No one on the team is saying, ‘Oh, let’s not do it.’ We’ve made the decision, and we’re trying to make it happen.
“We haven’t got a lot of time. Going into a fight against Tyson Fury, it’s best not to start changing things again and going back to the beginning. Robert Garcia is a good trainer, he did good in the camp, and we’ll see how that plays out,” said Hearn.
