Boxing could have an undisputed heavyweight champion in 2021.
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have agreed in principle to a two-fight deal, Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports. While there are still plenty of details to iron out before next year, Hearn says both sides are on the same page "regarding the financial terms of the fight."
"We've been talking to [Fury's management team] MTK, giving them the assurances from Joshua's side that all the details on the structure of the deal is approved from our side. And it is from Fury's side, as well," Hearn said. "We're in a good place. It's fair to say that, in principle, both guys have agreed to that fight. Two fights.
"[There's] a lot to overcome in the meantime. We're moving in the right direction. I'm confident that both guys have given their blessing for the fight to go ahead. The point of Fury, Joshua and the teams agreeing to the structure of the deal? The first fight could happen next summer. It will be 2021."
Fury (30-0-1), the current WBC heavyweight champion, has a mandatory title defense against Dillian Whyte — that bout must be held by February 2021 — and trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder on his schedule, but he confirmed on Twitter that the plan is to battle Joshua once he dispatches Wilder. (He did not mention Whyte.)
"One problem: I've just got to smash Deontay Wilder's face right in, in the next fight, and then we go into the Joshua fight next year," Fury said.
Joshua (23-1-0), who holds the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO titles, is set to face mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev, though a date for that fight has not yet been finalized.
"Logically to prove yourself as No. 1, I have to fight Tyson Fury. He has to fight Anthony Joshua," Joshua told Sky Sports. "What it will prove, me and him fighting? There will be one dominant figure in the heavyweight division that will have all of the belts and become undisputed."