Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has moved to pour cold water on reports that a blockbuster heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury has been agreed, flatly contradicting claims made by respected boxing journalist Gareth A Davies that the all-British fight is signed and set for Netflix.
Davies had told talkSPORT that the contest was finalised in the background and backed by major financial interests, stating, “The Fury-Joshua fight is signed. Okay, it is signed in the background. I’ve got that on good authority. It’s with the big money people. It’ll be on Netflix.”
Hearn, however, was unequivocal in his rebuttal, telling The Stomping Ground that nothing of the sort was in place.
“There is absolutely nothing signed with Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury next. There is nothing agreed,” he said.
The promoter acknowledged that deep conversations had taken place about the fight before Joshua’s life was upended by the horror car crash on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on December 29, which claimed the lives of his friends, personal trainer Kevin Ayodele and recovery therapist Sina Ghami, just 10 days after the British-Nigerian boxer had stopped Jake Paul in six rounds in Miami.
“There have been conversations — deep conversations prior to the accident — that he was going to fight Jake Paul, then fight in February or March in Saudi Arabia, then fight Tyson Fury. Then obviously the accident happened.
“There have been no conversations really about that fight, other than in the last few days, conversations about starting to think about revisiting the plan,” Hearn said.
Joshua has since resumed training and is working towards a summer comeback, with Dillian Whyte’s name circulating as a potential opponent for his return fight. Should he come through that unscathed, a Fury bout could follow later in the year.
Fury, meanwhile, makes his own ring return on April 11 when he faces knockout specialist Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a Netflix card that also features Conor Benn. The Gypsy King had announced his retirement from the sport over a year ago before reversing that decision.