Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn believes there are only minor details to be resolved before a two-fight deal between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury is confirmed.
Hearn told Sky Sports that he had spoken to Fury’s co-promoter, Top Rank’s Bob Arum, after Joshua’s victory over Kubrat Pulev on Saturday.
Hearn said: “It was positive, we’re all in the same position. We want to move forward with the fight quickly, which is good news for fans.
“Bob was very vocal before the Pulev fight, saying that Pulev was going to destroy Joshua, and was quick to say afterwards that he wasn’t very impressed with Anthony’s performance, which was interesting. We had a joke about that.”
The promoter said that he expected the first fight to take place in May 2021, with only a few issues to be sorted out.
“We’re really just now in the stage of trying to solve any remaining issues of the fight, of which there aren’t many, and trying to move forward collectively to let the governing bodies know that we plan to stage this fight, probably in May, and we would like this to be for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world,” he explained.
Both Hearn and Arum are keen to get the fight announced and confirmed.
Hearn believes there is nobody to hold back a fight, saying: “Sometimes when you’re trying to put a big fight together, you might get a fighter who doesn’t fancy it, or a promoter might not fancy it, or a trainer might not fancy it.
“Here, on both sides, every member of each team wants to do this fight.
“We all acknowledge this is the biggest fight in boxing, this is the best fight for both guys, this is for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. Why are you in this sport if you don’t want this fight? We believe Team Joshua will win this fight, they believe they will win this fight.
“So, let’s find out, that’s what sport’s all about.”
The Matchroom Boxing chief also said that they plan to stage two Joshua-Fury fights, but pointed to the recent change in London’s coronavirus restrictions as the reason that at least one of the two fights is likely to be held outside the United Kingdom.
“Our plan after speaking to Bob Arum last night is to get the deal in place and then go out to the relevant sites,” Hearn said.
“We all would like this to take place in the UK. You’ve seen London go into Tier 3. We got a crowd in for Saturday, that’s been taken away for the time being.
“There’s a lot of unknowns in that respect. There are a lot of countries around the world that want to stage this fight. It’s one of the biggest sporting events in the world available.
“We’ll talk to everyone then we will present it to the fighters and their team, and they will have to agree, and then we’ll move forward. Certainly one of the two, and we expect a two-fight deal, should be held in the UK.”