Dana White has again said he is promoting the Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury fight expected later this year, a claim that Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn, the promoters who represent the two heavyweights, have rejected on the basis of signed contracts. The exchange resurfaced at the Zuffa Boxing 07 post-fight press conference in Bournemouth on Saturday, June 6, 2026, where White was asked directly whether he was promoting the bout.<\/p>\n
What Dana White said<\/p>\n
White first staked the claim in a livestream appearance earlier this year. \u201cThis is the busiest year of my career. I\u2019m gonna be traveling everywhere. I\u2019m focused on Zuffa Boxing hardcore this year,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m doing the Tyson Fury, AJ fight, too. I\u2019m gonna be promoting that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed on the matter in Bournemouth, White did not address the contractual point and instead pointed to Hearn. \u201cDo you think that I would publicly lie and that I would look like a f***ing idiot in front of everybody? Do you believe that I would? What would be the point of that?\u201d White said. \u201cCall Eddie right now and ask him if he knows where the fight is. Call Eddie and ask him who negotiated the contract for the fight.\u201d He also said the venue had been determined and indicated he knew it.<\/p>\n
What Frank Warren said<\/p>\n
Warren, the Queensberry Promotions founder who promotes Fury, disputed White\u2019s account when asked about it. \u201cWell, he\u2019s not,\u201d Warren told Fight Hub TV, on whether White would promote the fight. \u201cThe contract with Tyson says Zuffa will not be allowed to promote that fight. I don\u2019t know why Dana White said he will be. It\u2019s bulls***.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Eddie Hearn said<\/p>\n
Hearn, the Matchroom chairman who promotes Joshua, first responded on social media. \u201cSuch a clout chaser. Not a chance, and contractually impossible. Let me know when you find your balls,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
He later set out the contractual position in more detail. \u201cThe reality is the contract\u2019s the contract. The fight doesn\u2019t take place if they have any promotional involvement in the show,\u201d Hearn told iFL TV. \u201cIt specifically says if Zuffa, TKO. It specifically mentions them, and anybody associated with that company cannot have any involvement, promotional involvement in the show. Tyson Fury\u2019s contract says exactly the same thing, and that\u2019s been signed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hearn also named the parties he said would run the event. \u201cWho is going to promote this show is Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, Spencer Brown, and Turki. We all had a shake. We\u2019re all going to work together on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not this big deal about there\u2019s going to be some guest promoter, because contractually it can\u2019t work like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Alalshikh factor<\/p>\n
The competing accounts converge on Turki Alalshikh, the General Entertainment Authority chairman who is funding and directing the fight. Hearn has said the venue decision rests with Alalshikh, who has been central to the sport\u2019s biggest recent events through Riyadh Season and his ownership of Ring Magazine.<\/p>\n
White is the closest of the promoters to Alalshikh. He runs Zuffa Boxing as lead promoter, and the venture is funded by Alalshikh through Riyadh Season and Sela, the Saudi company that partners with TKO Group Holdings on the promotion. White previously fronted the Canelo Alvarez against Terence Crawford card in 2025, another Alalshikh event, before Zuffa Boxing\u2019s formal launch.<\/p>\n
Warren, by contrast, has been at odds with Alalshikh, Sela, Ring Magazine and TKO, and filed a reported $1 billion lawsuit against TKO and Sela in February over the formation of Zuffa Boxing, claiming he should have been part of it. He has continued to do business with Alalshikh, including on the Fury fight. Joshua is scheduled to face Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia on July 25, with Fury also expected to take an interim bout before the two meet. That the fight is targeted for November, with Netflix expected to broadcast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dana White has again said he is promoting the Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury fight expected later this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-721273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}