Just when it appeared negotiations had taken a sideways turn, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury put pen to paper for a two-fight series to determine boxing's first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. ESPN was the first to report the deal.
"We'd like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month," Eddie Hearn, managing director of Matchroom Sport, Joshua's promoter, said to 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."
Fury, the WBC titlist, conducted an interview on Friday, venting his frustration on the fight not being made yet. He claimed that he stopped training and was consuming "up to 12 pints a day."
"You never really know with Tyson," Hearn said. "It could be mind games. He could be having a bad day. He could be a little pissed off. Or he could be having a joke.
"One of the fascinations about this fight will be the buildup because they're two totally different characters, two totally different personalities. 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 [Kubrat] Pulev fight [in December]. He's like a caged lion. The buildup is going to be epic."
With Joshua and Fury signing the contract, the next step is determining a venue. Hearn says multiple countries have sent offers to stage Joshua-Fury.
"I actually feel we've done the hard part," Hearn said. "Speaking for myself, Anthony and his team at 258 management [258 MGT], 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.
"This is the biggest fight in boxing and one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It will be a major, major win for a country that wants to showcase itself."
The tentative plan is for the first fight to occur in June or July, with the rematch occurring in either November or December.
Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs), the WBA (super), WBO, and IBF champion, fought in Saudi Arabia in Dec. 2019, beating Andy Ruiz Jr. via unanimous decision to reclaim his three belts. The 31-year-old last competed in Dec. 2020, knocking out mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev in the ninth round.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) hasn't competed since defeating Deontay Wilder in Feb. 2020 via seventh-round TKO.