A verbal agreement is in place for Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury in a heavyweight merger, with promoter Eddie Hearn seemingly suggesting the Middle East as the likely location.
Joshua’s ninth-round stop from Kubrat Pulev last week kept him on a collision course with Fury, which hasn’t fought since defeating Deontay Wilder to claim the WBC title, which is the only belt that Joshua doesn’t own.
Wilder has a replay clause that can trigger him for a third fight with Fury, however Joshua’s promoter, Hearn, insists that the only hut that either camp is concerned about is one that will crown a British as the undisputed champion.
Speaking at the news conference after the fight for Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s victory over Callum Smith, Hearn said: “They’ve been going non-stop, the next step is to draft deals that happen on this at present.
“[There’s] a lot of work to be done on that but only minor points in my opinion to resolve. So I think you will see over the next few weeks getting to that position where we can hit the market and look at where that fight might take place. But as I’ve said before, nobody is looking at another match from either team. ”
When asked for a verbal agreement, he added: “Yes, yes, I mean we have an advocate.
“AJ has a unique fight with Sky, Fury with BT, America Fury with ESPN, AJ with DAZN. Minor again, then the silly stuff, who walks out first, who gets the better changing room. AJ thinks he’s the A side, Fury thinks he’s the A side.
Anthony Joshua [is the A side] – when you mention him as a global brand and the greatest equalizer globally in that fight, it’s clearly AJ. He has three of the belts – this is why AJ could fight in December and Fury couldn’t.
“It depends where it might happen, if it’s in the Middle East I think Ramadan runs until mid-May so the end of May, the beginning of June is a target for that fight. If it’s in the UK May-June is great too.
“But the only way that fighting can happen in the UK is if 90,000 fans can attend. Even then men might be taking 50 per cent of the purse in another territory, but at the moment with the UK going into another lockdown, who knows if we’ll see that kind of numbers? ”(Sportsmax).