Promoter row threatens Fury-Joshua Cardiff fight, says Fury
Tyson Fury says his scheduled all-British heavyweight clash with Anthony Joshua at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on 11 December is in jeopardy because of a dispute between rival promoters.
The bout was announced earlier this week and Netflix released details of the event; the promotion was described as a collaboration between Turki Alalshikh's The Ring and UFC president Dana White. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has been publicly at odds with White and has argued that White's involvement would breach existing contracts.
Fury blamed Hearn and Joshua on social media, writing: "Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are trying to pull out of this fight. They're saying they're not going to fight now." He added: "It's mainly to do with Eddie Hearn's ego. He's making up a million different things and threatening we're not going to fight."
Continuing on Instagram, Fury accused Hearn of costing the match and criticised the response to White's role, saying: "Now you've got Turki Alalshikh finding alternative real men who will fight at the drop of a hand. Eddie Hearn has cost us the biggest fight in boxing history."
Hearn, who has been publicly feuding with White since the launch of Zuffa Boxing earlier this year, told IFL TV that White's involvement "ain't happening", despite Netflix's news release. He said: "Dana White cannot be involved with this fight promotion. Netflix clearly didn't get the memo. No-one talks to each other." He added: "Then Netflix say the fight is in conjunction with Dana White. Now we have to go through that process and deal with it. It's a little bit annoying but as I've shown through the UK battle that we won, we stand by our contracts."
Fury's promoter Frank Warren said White was influential in securing the deal with Netflix after the fight was confirmed. There was no official statement from Hearn or Warren in the news release sent out by Netflix to announce the fight.
The dispute is the latest obstacle after a series of failed negotiations: in 2020 the two camps agreed the basis of a two-fight deal; in 2021 contracts were signed for an undisputed contest but Deontay Wilder's successful arbitration forced Fury into a third fight with the American; and in 2022 a proposed challenge with a 60-40 split fell apart. Fury and Joshua signed contracts for the bout earlier this year, and Fury earlier this month posted on social media suggesting Joshua, 36, was backing out before calling for a third match-up with Oleksandr Usyk.
The fight remains scheduled for 11 December at Cardiff's Principality Stadium; BBC Sport has contacted Matchroom, Queensberry Promotions, The Ring and Netflix for comment.