Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua Officially Announced
The long-awaited heavyweight title unification bout between British boxers Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua has finally been signed.
Joshua’s promoter and the lead man of Matchroom Boxing Eddie Hearn confirmed to ESPN’s Mark Kriegel that both parties have signed on for a two-fight series, although no date or location has been decided on as of yet. It does appear though that the Middle East is the likely favorite to land the bid to host the massive boxing event between the two heavyweights.
“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.”
The smart money, however, continues to be on the Middle East, where Hearn secured a site fee in excess of $40 million to promote Joshua’s 2019 rematch with Andy Ruiz in Saudi Arabia. The need for a huge site fee becomes particularly acute with seating restrictions and businesses still reeling from COVID-19, as Middle Eastern countries are seeking less in attendance than favorable publicity.
“This is the biggest fight in boxing and one of the biggest sporting events in the world,” Hearn said. “It will be a major, major win for a country that wants to showcase itself.”
As detailed by Kriegel, the contract calls for a 50-50 split in the first fight with a 60-40 split in the rematch and the winner taking the higher share. The hope is for both fights to take place in 2021 with the first of the two happening sometime in the summer. Fury the current WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion is 30-0-1 as a professional, last defeating Deontay Wilder in their highly anticipated rematch via a brutal seventh-round TKO back in February 2020. Joshua the current WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight champion as well as former 2012 Olympic gold medalist is 24-1 as a pro and most recently beat Kubrat Pulev via a ninth-round knockout in December 2020.
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