Eddie Hearn has revealed that a substantial new offer to host Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury's upcoming heavyweight title unification fight has come in this week, adding a new wrinkle to the race to host the huge clash.
Joshua and Fury reportedly signed the contract for their two-fight deal recently, but as suggested by Hearn earlier this year, the big news will be split over two announcements as the official date and venue will be finalised at a later date.
Various big-money locations in the United States, Asia and the Middle East appear to be in the running, but Hearn told The Daily Mail that one more Asian venue has entered the running with a huge offer.
“All I will say is it’s in Asia. Not Macau but not far away,” said Hearn. “But this one was just well out there.
“And it’s a realistic option; money is not an issue with this guy. Commercially it’s a bit strange, but it’s not about that. It’s a trophy asset to say, ‘This is the biggest event in the world.'
“That’s the mindset of an individual who wants to bring it to his own country. It’s not about selling tickets; it’s not about government investment. It would be him saying, ‘I’d be paying for it.’
“There’s a number for the fight; you hit the number, you get the fight, and the number was not an issue for this individual."
There are concerns the hold-up over venue could lead to the fight coming later than initially hoped. Hearn has cited late May to early June as his ideal landing point for months, but the closer we get to the summer the more unlikely it is that both fighters can get a satisfactory training camp in ahead of the bout.
Amid fears the first meeting between the two champs could even be pushed back to the fall, Chris Mannix and Sergio Mora discussed the possibility of Fury, who hasn't fought since taking the WBC title from Deontay Wilder in Feb. 2020, perhaps even taking a tune-up fight before facing AJ. You can watch that episode of "Jabs" on DAZN here.