One of the highest anticipated boxing bouts between English powerhouses Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua has taken one big step for mankind. Famed boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed to ESPN that the Heavyweight duo will provide two back-to-back fights this year.
The bout has still yet to get a date and location, however it is confirmed it will unify 4 world titles, including Joshua’s WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO titles. It is expected that the two fighters will clash in June or July in a summer showdown of the ages.
Getting The Contract Signed
The Brits have been in talks to fight for quite sometime now, with Eddie Hearn in serious talks with them as early as January. Negotiations between Fury and Joshua have come to a close, with both parties agreeing coming to a 50-50 purse compromise. The rubber match, which is expected to take place likely in November/December, will be in favor of the winner who will take 60% of the allotted purse as opposed to 40% to the loser.
“The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper,” Hearn told ESPN. “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 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.”
Battle of the Brits
Fury AKA ‘The Gypsy King’ will look to reign once more when he fights Joshua this summer. Fury is coming off a furious domination of rival Deontay Wilder, where he TKO’ed Wilder in round 7 to become the new WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion in February of 2020.
Before the fight was signed, Fury was frustrated out of not having a fight for so long. He was losing hope in the wake of negotiations being played out for the potential bout with Joshua. Fury revealed that he had stopped training because of the anxiety that came with it.
“I’m taking some time away from the game at the moment, because, like I said, I’ve been ready to fight since I beat Deontay Wilder last year,” Fury explained. “I’ve had no success in getting another fight. At the moment I’m just concentrating on getting me 10 pints of Stella.”
In the other corner, AJ is coming off a dominant decision victory over Andy Ruiz Jr. in December of 2019. This win would avenge Joshua’s first loss, where he was TKO’ed by Ruiz in round 7 in June. He gained back all of his world titles and will put them on the line once again when he takes on the undefeated Fury.
‘The Biggest Fight In Boxing’
“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.”
