Promoter Eddie Hearn has maintained that the undisputed heavyweight title fight between WBA Super, WBO and IBF champion Anthony Joshua and WBC boss Tyson Fury is close to being announced despite the Gypsy King’s recent claims that the mega-fight is slipping away.
In the last couple of days, Fury has claimed that a deal is far from being signed after months of laborious negotiations and that he is now sinking 12 pints a day, in what seems most likely to be another round of mind games.
Yet Joshua’s promoter Hearn is singing from a different hymn sheet altogether.
“I don’t know whether he was in a bad mood or pulling everyone’s plonker. What I do know is everyone has put a lot of work into this deal and he is on board,” Hearn told The Sun.
“Last week he said he would never ever fight Deontay Wilder again and now he says he might fight him next, so we are just focused on what we are doing and we are on the verge of giving everyone some great news.
“I think we are days away – I know I have said that two and five weeks ago – but we are days away from giving everyone some good news.”
Hearn says a number of venues are under discussion for the first Fury-Joshua bout in a projected two-fight series, with the date for the opening encounter now pushed back to late June or early July.
“Saudi 100 per cent want to hold the fight but they are only one of six or seven who we have whittled it down to, who want to hold the fight and will continue talks with,” said Hearn.
“America has opened up as an option, we are in talks with the Dallas Cowboys about having 70,000 for Canelo vs Billy Joe Saunders [in May].
“And I believe Las Vegas is close to opening up to 50 per cent capacity, if they have 100 per cent by July they could be a player and they will need something monstrous to bring people back.
“I would say in the next 30 days [we will decide the venue]. The next 28 days is the thought process of both teams. If we are going to deliver this fight late June, early July at the latest, we need to get that moving.
“That’s why we took the decision to start those conversations a couple of weeks ago, so we have a number of phone calls to move forward with the finalising of site offers.”