Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua will not be signing up for that megafight vs Tyson Fury by the time Fury’s new Monday deadline comes around.
The Matchroom supremo, who promotes Joshua, says a meeting will take place on Monday with broadcasters and other key parties, with a view to moving closer to a signed deal. But he says there is no chance contracts will be signed right there and then.
A clearly frustrated Fury had come out on Saturday and said if Joshua doesn’t sign by Monday he will move on to fight a different opponent on Saturday December 3. Reportedly it will be Manuel Charr.
Hearn bemused by Fury deadline
Hearn though seemed bemused, with negotiations still ongoing for that Fury vs Joshua megafight and that big Monday meeting planned. It will include broadcasters BT Sport (Fury) and DAZN (Joshua).
He told IFL TV: “Tyson Fury said he’s retired, Tyson Fury said he’s giving his money to the homeless and now Tyson Fury is saying ‘I’m walking away from the fight if you don’t sign on Monday’. Well guess what, we ain’t signing on Monday, because we’re having a meeting on Monday to discuss numerous points within the contract.
“This is the process, we waited nine days for the contract, and we’ve been working very hard with Queensberry (Fury’s promoter), nobody’s been messing around. And we’ve got meetings with BT, DAZN, Queensberry to go through the process and get this done, but it ain’t happening on Monday.”
Hearn described Fury’s deadline as “ridiculous” and said it leads him to believe ‘The Gypsy King’ will instead fight Charr on December 3.
He explained: “By the way, Queensberry will know it’s ridiculous because we’ve got a meeting on Monday to talk about things in the contract.”
Broadcast rights will be key
Most key terms for Fury vs Joshua on December 3 are agreed, notably the 60-40 revenue split with Fury taking the lion’s share as the reigning WBC and lineal heavyweight champion.
The major remaining sticking point is expected to be those UK broadcast rights. A potential joint PPV with both BT Sport and DAZN being able to air the bout has been mooted. Clearly Monday will tell us much more.
