It seems that Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua fight is near booking. But not just that, according to the promoters from both sides, there won’t be one but two meetings.
Hearn stated that both British champions agreed in principal to meet two times during the 2021 year. There haven’t been any detailed negotiations, but instead talks about general stuff.
The most important part of these talks considered finances, and Hearn, who is Joshua’s promoter, said that he and Fury’s team reached a deal. The 41-year old would add that this is usually the hardest part of the talks, but in this case, it worked out well. Frank Warren, who is in Fury’s team, stated that the agreement includes splitting the revenue 50-50.
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have reached a deal for two fights in 2021, promoter Eddie Hearn tells @SkySportsNews.
(via @ESPNRingside) https://t.co/eF4gXBDs4j pic.twitter.com/HV9DPJbsu8
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 10, 2020
Hearn spoke about the fact that both guys accepted the offer to have two fights, which is pretty rare in the boxing world. Also, the location of those matches is not revealed, but it is expected to see at least one in Great Britain. Saudi Arabia and the United States are the main candidates for the second.
Joshua holds the WBO, WBA, and IBF belts. He would lose to Andy Ruiz via knockout in June 2019, but bounced back in December after beating the Mexican via unanimous decision.
Right after that fight, AJ started looking for a new opponent, and the next name on the list was Kubrat Pulev, who was the IBF mandatory challenger. The match between the two was set for June 20, but was postponed this April due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Fury, who defeated Deontay Wilder and took away his WBC title, also has a mandatory challenger, the compatriot, Dillian Whyte. That fight is projected to be early in 2021, yet following today’s talks, the prospects for that are just too low.
Still, the experts from the boxing world are suggesting that both AJ and Fury have to accept their mandatory fights, and if everything goes well with them, proceed with their battles.
Having these two guys in the ring with all the titles on the table, would produce a unified and undisputed heavyweight champ for the first time in the last 20 years.