Tyson Fury’s co-promoter Bob Arum is “95 percent” sure that there will be an agreement for his fighter to face Anthony Joshua, with a contract signed in the next fortnight.
Fury and Joshua are expected to fight at least once in 2021, with June suggested as a possible date for a first bout. Financial terms have already been agreed in principle, with a 50-50 split in revenues expected. One obstacle is Oleksandr Usyk's demands to step aside from his WBO mandatory fight.
Top Rank head Arum spoke with Eddie Hearn in the hours straight after Joshua’s win over his IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev and discussions have continued into the new year. One of the details yet to be agreed is a venue. It is unlikely that the first fight will go ahead in the United Kingdom because of the coronavirus pandemic leading to restrictions on attendance for sporting events.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Arum said: "I don't want to make a deadline, but I just can report that everything so far has been going splendidly, and we hope to have a signed document within the next couple of weeks.
"That might not provide for a site, because again, we can have a document that the fighters would have signed, and everything, and then have a mutual agreement clause of the site.
"We're all on the same page, as far as I can see.
"I'm 95 percent confident the fight happens, and I'm 100 percent confident that my guy wins, and wins by knockout."
Venues in China, Singapore, the Middle East and America have been suggested as locations for a fight, but nothing yet is certain.
"I don't want to say too much, other than we're going well," Joshua's promoter Hearn explained.
"We're now papering the fight, in terms of the contracts, a period of the fight, and looking out now in the next stages to go to the different various sites that have made offers and discuss the fight and the date with them.
"All I want to tell you really is we're on track and I don't see anything derailing it.
"We're talking to Saudi Arabia, we're talking to Qatar, we're talking to Dubai, we're talking to Singapore, we're talking to China, we're talking to America.
"We all know everybody would like this fight in the UK. Can we hand on heart say that in May, we can have 100,000 people in Wembley? I think very unlikely."
Arum also revealed that Hearn is keen for his Matchroom fighters to face their Top Rank rivals on the same bill.