Fury vs. Joshua Fight in Jeopardy Amidst Promoter Dispute
Tyson Fury states that the anticipated December showdown with Anthony Joshua is at risk due to disagreements between promoters, particularly involving UFC president Dana White.
The highly anticipated all-British heavyweight boxing match between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, scheduled for December, is now in jeopardy due to a dispute involving rival promoters, according to Fury.
The bout, announced earlier this week to take place at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on December 11, was confirmed as a collaboration between Saudi boxing figure Turki Alalshikh's The Ring and UFC president Dana White. However, White's involvement appears to be the central point of contention.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter, has expressed strong opposition to White's participation, viewing it as a breach of their contract. Fury, speaking on Instagram, accused Hearn and Joshua of attempting to withdraw from the fight, citing Hearn's "ego" as the primary reason for the potential cancellation. "Eddie Hearn has cost us the biggest fight in boxing history," Fury stated.
The friction between Hearn and White is not new, stemming from the recent launch of Zuffa Boxing earlier this year. Hearn told IFL TV that White's involvement in promoting the Fury-Joshua fight "ain't happening," despite a Netflix press release that included White's name.
"Dana White cannot be involved with this fight promotion. Netflix clearly didn't get the memo. No-one talks to each other," Hearn said. "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, noted that White was instrumental in securing the deal with Netflix for the fight. This dispute follows earlier social media posts from Fury suggesting Joshua was backing out, and Fury's subsequent call for a third fight against Oleksandr Usyk.
This is not the first time negotiations for a Fury-Joshua fight have faltered. The two camps had previously agreed to terms for a two-fight deal in 2020, and contracts were signed in 2021 for an undisputed heavyweight contest. However, Deontay Wilder's successful arbitration case led to Fury fighting him instead. In 2022, an attempt to revive the bout also collapsed despite Joshua agreeing to a 60-40 split.
Both Fury and Joshua had signed contracts for the fight earlier this year, with the date and venue confirmed shortly before this latest dispute emerged. No official statements from Hearn or Warren were included in the Netflix announcement. BBC Sport has reached out to Matchroom, Queensberry Promotions, The Ring, and Netflix for comment.