Frank Warren described reports that Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have agreed a two-fight deal ‘in principle’ to unify the world heavyweight titles as “absolute bull***t” on Wednesday afternoon.
Warren – whose Queensberry Promotions promote Fury along with Bob Arum’s Top Rank – responded to Matt Christie of Boxing News after Eddie Hearn had claimed earlier in the day that a two-fight deal between the two fighters is ‘agreed in principle’.
Warren told Boxing News: “It’s absolute bull***t. We all know it’s a 50-50 split and it’s a two-fight deal that’s being discussed but there’s nothing new here. It’s all about Hearn. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
Speculation has been at fever pitch for several weeks now that the all-British showdown fight fans everywhere want to see is moving closer.
Warren, Hearn and Arum have all said repeatedly that both camps are on the same page in wanting to get the deal done, and that a split and agreement should not be difficult to do.
Fury himself meanwhile took to Twitter later on Wednesday afternoon to claim that a deal is done – exclaiming: “Get in there my boy!”.
‘The Gypsy King’ did also rightly point out that there are still obstacles to a Fury vs Joshua megafight even when the deal is officially done. He has a third meeting with the ever-dangerous former WBC king Deontay Wilder to negotiate while Joshua has Bulgarian mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev to take care of.
Fury-Joshua is the biggest fight in boxing — but @BronzeBomber is not just some interim fight. Regardless of what happened last time, Wilder is fully capable of knocking Fury out.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) June 10, 2020
Both those fights are likely to take place later this year, while there is also the small matter of WBC mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte in theory awaiting a shot at the belt early next year.
Wednesday’s reports are so far encouraging if not categorical as Warren’s response shows. There is clearly much work still to be done but it does appear the road to an undisputed showdown next year is well and truly in sight.
