Eddie Hearn, who is representing Anthony Joshua in negotiations to fight Tyson Fury, has provided yet more positive news about the likelihood of the event, targeted for December 3 in Cardiff.
It seems that the all-British heavyweight title clash is far beyond the simplicities of social media call outs now, as Matchroom have received the contract and are into the nitty gritty of reviewing and adding certain things before sending it back to Queensbury.
Eddie Hearn provided an update to DAZN Boxing.
“We received the contract last night [September 15] which we’re now reviewing and going back. There’s a lot to be added in to that contract, but at least we’ve got one. It’s early days, we’re up for that fight, we’ve made it clear – if everybody’s serious you’ll see that fight.
Absolutely this year – that’s the only choice we had, really. You know, they want to get AJ when he’s weak, they want to feel like this is a great time to fight him. Maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong. We’ll see, but working towards it and AJ will be out in December whatever happens. We hope it’s Tyson Fury, but we have to see.”
Hearn is referencing the timing of the fight, and the fact that ‘AJ’ is coming off a 12 round loss to Oleksandr Usyk in August. Some in the sport have said that it’s the wrong move for Joshua given the circumstance, but the fighter seems to disagree, believing he may never get the chance for a Fury showdown again.
It’s the first relative pause in a negotiation that has been conducted at breakneck pace. It’s all standard though – with Hearn’s team obliged to clarify and put in certain agreements for their fighter.
Discussions are apparently going on behind the scenes between broadcasters, too. Fury is exclusive with BT Sport in the UK and ESPN in the states, whilst Joshua is not long after signed a worldwide deal with DAZN.
It’s unclear how the broadcast situation will seek to satisfy all involved but, as both promoters have said recently, if everybody wants it to happen, it will.
We expect to hear more concrete news soon, given that the floated fight date is just over 10 weeks away.