Tyson Fury says his planned December fight against fellow British heavyweight Anthony Joshua could be threatened by a dispute between their promoters.
The long-awaited bout was officially announced earlier this week, with Fury and Joshua scheduled to meet at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11. The event is set to be broadcast by Netflix and is being promoted through a partnership involving Saudi boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring and UFC president Dana White. However, the promotional arrangement has created a dispute involving Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn.
Hearn has been involved in a public disagreement with White in recent months and claims White’s involvement in the Joshua-Fury promotion conflicts with existing contractual arrangements.
Fury has now accused Hearn of putting the fight at risk because of the dispute.
“Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are trying to pull out of this fight. They’re saying they’re not going to fight now,” Fury said in an Instagram post.
He blamed what he described as Hearn’s “ego” for the situation and claimed the promoter was creating obstacles to the December bout.
Fury also praised Alalshikh for being prepared to find other fighters if the Joshua fight collapses. Hearn, however, has insisted that White’s involvement in promoting the fight is unacceptable under his contractual arrangements.
Speaking to IFL TV, Hearn said White’s participation “ain’t happening” despite Netflix announcing that the event was being staged in partnership with him.
“Dana White cannot be involved with this fight promotion. Netflix clearly didn’t get the memo. No-one talks to each other,” Hearn said.
He added that the dispute would have to be resolved through the appropriate process, saying he was prepared to stand by the contracts governing his promotional relationship.
Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, has meanwhile said White played an important role in securing the Netflix deal after the fight was agreed.
The latest dispute adds another layer of uncertainty to a contest that has taken years to arrange. Fury and Joshua have repeatedly been linked with a blockbuster fight, but previous negotiations failed to produce a bout. Fury had also suggested earlier this month that Joshua could withdraw from the contest before later calling for a third fight with former unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
There has been no official announcement that the December fight has been cancelled, and the disagreement currently centres on the promotional arrangements rather than the fighters’ scheduled date and venue.
