Eddie Hearn dismissed Bob Arum’s concerns over the chances of Anthony Joshua’s fight with Tyson Fury, suggesting he could make an announcement this weekend.
While Hearn has been bullish on the fight for some time, and appears to have been at the heart of driving contract negotiations forward, as well as leading the legwork to find a suitable location, Arum has variously suggested the fight was in doubt or dead.
Speaking to DAZN’s Boxing Show, the Matchroom head had little patience for Arum’s outbursts.
“He said we hadn’t spoken in two weeks, we’d actually spoken on the Friday, so we’d actually spoken when it was three days and he said two weeks,” he claimed.
“From there I gave my side of the story and then he went on a crazy one. He went from, ‘the fight’s in doubt,’ to, ‘the fight’s dead in the water,’ all within five hours without speaking to anyone. So that was Bob.
“Thankfully Fury’s side has come out and said we’ve got the contract, the new longform agreement from the site. All the teams are reviewing that now and we go back to the site today with our comments and we get it signed.
“I can’t speak for Tyson Fury, but I don't think anything is in jeopardy. Everyone is moving as fast as we can.”
Hearn then said that an announcement could be imminent, perhaps after the Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders fight on May 8, shown globally on DAZN (except in Mexico).
“In an ideal world I’d love to be in the ring after the fight with you guys [Ak & Barak] or [Chris] Mannix, giving you some great news so we’ll see if that’s possible.”
Hearn then said that Arum’s outbursts might be because he has not had so much money riding on a site before, nor had he dealt with the Saudi Arabian representatives previously. Hearn has already worked with them when putting on the 2019 Ruiz v Joshua rematch.
“I said Arum has never been as big a site fee as this before. He hasn’t. I’ve haven’t. In fact no one has. It’s the biggest site deal in boxing history. But I have been in a site deal for a slightly less amount of money with the same people, for the Andy Ruiz fight. I know these people, I know the process,” he said.
“Bob Arum has been involved in some huge fights. But he hasn’t been involved with these people, for this much money.
“The only sympathy I have for Bob, When I did the deal with these people for the Andy Ruiz fight, I thought it wasn’t happening.
“I’ve said it before, but I also understand the process to get fights of this magnitude done.”