Eddie Hearn Threatens To Call Fury-Joshua Off If NYC Is Announced Without An Agreement In Place
Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn is threatening to call the Anthony Joshua (30-4, 27 KOs) vs. Tyson Fury (36-2-1, 25 KOs) fight off if it is announced for New York without an agreement in place to change the location.
Hearn has represented two-time heavyweight champion Joshua since his professional debut in 2013. The promoter has previously spoken of an agreed deal to fight Fury, with Joshua’s contract requiring the bout to take place in Britain, where both fighters are from.
Speaking more recently, Hearn said everyone outside of himself and Joshua, including Turki Alalshikh and executives at Netflix, wants the fight in the United States, specifically New York City.
Hearn said organizers recently informed him that they “would like to announce the fight for New York.” He told them, “No.”
“There might even be a situation where they go for it and do announce it and you will probably see me coming out quite quickly and say, ‘No fight’. I promise you, if they announce that fight without an agreement in place to change the venue, there will be no fight and we ain’t bluffing. We feel really strongly that this fight should be in the UK.”
To force their hand, Hearn said he is tempted to demand more money for Joshua in an effort to make organizers reconsider the move.
“They just say, ‘You know what, let’s do it in England’.”
For Hearn and Joshua, staging the fight in Britain remains the “dream scenario.”