Dana White is already promoting Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua. That is his answer to Eddie Hearn’s claim that White cannot be involved in the December 11 fight in Cardiff.
Hearn says he will call Netflix about it. White has a simpler question: “Who’s going to stop me? Do you think Netflix give a [expletive] what Eddie Hearn thinks?” White said when asked about Hearn’s plan. “I guarantee they do not. I’m sitting here promoting the fight right now. Who’s going to stop me?”
White did not define his duties. He pointed to the event’s press release and said he was involved on Turki Alalshikh’s side, rather than with Fury or Joshua. Hearn may have a contractual objection to the scope of that role, but he has not laid one out publicly. The argument over White’s title has yet to prevent him from speaking about the event.
Matchroom built its name in an era when a promoter could control much of a major fight’s presentation. Fury–Joshua has a financier and a global broadcaster with interests of their own. Hearn represents a fighter the event needs, but that does not give him automatic control over everyone invited to help sell it. White’s arrival makes that change in power impossible to ignore.
Saying Netflix “didn’t get the memo” and promising to call the broadcaster looks especially weak when aired through interviews. If its press release conflicts with an agreement, Hearn has a serious issue to resolve directly. Telling the public he needs to correct Netflix first invites White to ask why the matter was not settled before the announcement. Netflix does not report to Matchroom, and those comments advertise a disagreement Hearn has yet to win.
There is a harder test of his influence. If keeping White out is essential, Hearn could tell the other parties that Joshua will not fight unless White is removed from the promotion. He has issued no such ultimatum. Fury–Joshua is a long-awaited fight with enormous money behind it, and threatening Joshua’s place on the card would be costly. Hearn has given no indication he is willing to make that move.
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) September 25, 2026
Joshua has not joined Hearn’s public objections in the exchanges at issue here. That does not tell us what Joshua thinks privately. It does leave his promoter carrying the complaint alone while White can argue that any attention he brings helps sell Joshua’s fight. The position would be stronger if the fighter whose participation gives Matchroom its influence made the same demand.
White also praised Fury promoter Frank Warren as a businessman with “less than zero ego,” then blamed “one whiny little crybaby” for the friction. The contrast is calculated. Warren is presented as willing to work within the arrangement; Hearn is cast as guarding his territory. White gets to define their roles each time the subject returns.
That may be Hearn’s most avoidable mistake. White thrives on an argument, and Hearn keeps supplying one. A dismissive sentence followed by a return to Joshua’s preparation would leave White to explain his own contribution. Instead, each complaint puts his name in another interview and gives him another clip to circulate. He becomes a co-star without having to finance the fight himself.
The dispute also travels beyond British boxing. White is familiar to American UFC viewers who may pay little attention to the usual exchanges between boxing promoters. A public fight with Hearn gives those audiences an easy way into the Fury–Joshua story. In trying to limit White’s presence, Hearn may be introducing him to the event’s wider audience.
Hearn may still secure limits on White’s role. Until he shows what he can enforce, though, White’s question hangs over every complaint: who is going to stop him?
