Hearn Dismisses Fury's Claims, Insists Joshua Fight Is Signed and Can't Be Called Off
Eddie Hearn has pushed back on Tyson Fury's claim that Anthony Joshua is trying to pull out of their proposed November fight, insisting the two sides remain bound by contract despite ongoing disputes over venue.
Fury claimed on Friday that the proposed fight is in serious doubt after Joshua supposedly asked for "more money", labelling him and his team "cowards". But Hearn, who represents Joshua, is confident the fight will still go ahead.
"We've signed the contract, we're waiting for a date. You saw Tyson Fury shouting and screaming - there's nothing to shout and scream about, the fight's done," he told DAZN. "The fight's signed. No-one can pull out of the fight. You can't just pull out of a contract."
Hearn added: "There's no suggestion that the fight's not happening, no-one can stop this fight from happening. The only way it can stop from happening is if they actually breach the contract."
Venue Dispute and Contract Terms
The fight between Fury and Joshua is targeted for November, with Madison Square Garden in New York as the likely location. Hearn said the original fight contract stipulated that the bout would be staged in the UK, but Saudi organisers Sela are pushing for a move to the United States.
"We know everybody and his dog involved in the fight wants to do the fight in America. We don't," added Hearn. "We've told Sela and the team if you want to do it in America, these are the terms that we can move forward with. But we'd rather not please."
Hearn has since submitted an addendum to Sela outlining conditions under which Joshua would agree to fight in New York.
Joshua's Pay Cut and Additional Clauses
According to Hearn, Joshua has agreed to a smaller share of the purse by opting out of "additional stuff" that has been offered. "What [the organisers] want to do is they want to pay Anthony Joshua less money because that's how it'll work out with the difference in location, they want him to do a load of additional stuff," Hearn said at the Matchroom Boxing conference. "I'm not going to blow things up, which I could do so easily, but..."
Hearn also mentioned there have been breaches in Joshua's contract already, without elaborating.
Fury's Rant and Dana White's Involvement
The fight has been subject to months, if not years, of contractual disputes that reached a boiling point as Dana White stuck his ten pence in and was the subject of threats of a lawsuit from Eddie Hearn. Earlier this week, UFC President Dana White erupted into an explosive rant, explaining that the contract talks were getting tiresome.
"Contracts and this and that? There's a lot of fking money up for grabs in this fight. Do you want to fight or do you not want to fight? I don't give a st one way or the other," he said. "I'd be happy [if the fight was in the UK]. I don't give a s**t. Do you want to fight, or do you not want to fight?"
Historical Context
Joshua and Fury were unable to agree terms in 2021 and fight plans fell apart after a US judge ruled Fury had to face Deontay Wilder in a trilogy fight instead. Should the venue shift to Madison Square Garden, it would mark Joshua's return to the site of his seventh-round stoppage loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019.