Two fight deal been agreed between the two UK world champions
It’s finally on! The biggest heavyweight fight for years as Fury v Joshua has been agreed.
Reports have emerged both in the UK and US that a two fight deal has been agreed between the two British world champions to unify the decision.
In recent days it seemed we were as far away as ever when Tyson Fury said he could still face Deontay Wilder in a rematch, possibly a ploy that was to force the negotiations through.
As yet no date or venue has been announced.
“We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month,” Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Sport supremo and Anthony Joshua’s promoter told ESPN. “The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper. But this was a major effort from all parties to get this over the line. You had rival promoters, rival networks and rival fighters.
“I actually feel we’ve done the hard part. Speaking for myself, Anthony and his team at 258 management, I know how hard we’ve worked these last couple of months and I just feel that this fight is so big it’s not a difficult sell. We’ve already had approaches from eight or nine sites. The offers have come from multiple countries in the Middle East, from Asia, Eastern Europe and America.”
The favourite location would appear to be the Middle East, Joshua beat Andy Ruiz to regain his world titles in Saudi Arabia in 2019 and Fury appeared on a WWE event in Saudi Arabia. The oil rich region has been pumping cash into combat sports in recent years with the UFC holding several events in Abu Dhabi last year.
“This is the biggest fight in boxing and one of the biggest sporting events in the world,” Hearn said. “It will be a major, major win for a country that wants to showcase itself.”
According to ESPN, the first fight will be a 50-50 split, with the second being a 60-40 share in second. Both fights are expected to take place in 2021, the first around June or July with the second at the tail end of the year.
We can expect Fury to ramp up the mind games before the fight, how will AJ react?
“One of the fascinations about this fight will be the build up because they are two totally different personalities,” Hearn explained. “The mind games will be on another level for this fight. Tyson is very good at that. Anthony is excited by that, he’s so pumped, so focused, he hasn’t stopped training since the Pulev fight. He’s like a caged lion. The build up is going to be epic.”
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