Champion and the sport of boxing want shot in the arm mega fight would provide, says promoter Eddie Hearn
And now for the big one. The teams behind Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will set to work on arranging possibly the biggest heavyweight showdown since Muhammad Ali took on Joe Frazier 50 years ago and the richest bout ever between two British fighters.
There is plenty of wrangling to be done over the date, venue and with the broadcasters, but there is no doubt the two British rivals want to climb in the ring together for a blockbuster unification fight. Joshua would put up his World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organisation belts against Fury’s World Boxing Council crown.
Bob Arum, the 89-year-old Las Vegas-based promoter of Fury was in no doubt on Sunday the “Battle of the Brits” would rival the Ali v Frazier contest at Madison Square Garden, New York, in 1971. That was called “The Fight of the Century” and from that sprang “the richest prize” in sport tag with a $5 million dollar purse. Fifty years on, this forthcoming contest – as promoter Eddie Hearn told The Daily Telegraph last week – is expected to be worth £200 million, should the parties agree a two-fight deal.
The patriotic spirit yearns for the first encounter to take place at a packed Wembley Stadium, but boxing is as much a business as a sport. Were the fight to take place in this country, the fighters would, according to Hearn, earn £30 million to £40 million less.
He, Arum and Frank Warren, Fury’s UK representative, were in a hurry on Sunday to make things happen.
“If you start going out to all the sites now it’s going to take months,” Hearn said. “We have to just say, ‘Are we all in agreement, are all sides mutually agreed?’ If ‘yes’, then let’s sign the contract and on we go.”
Joshua is full of confidence after poleaxing mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev, of Bulgaria, in the ninth round on Saturday night at Wembley Arena, where 1,000 fans managed to create an atmosphere to savour and remember.
“We all want this undisputed fight and all boxing needs is the undisputed heavyweight fight,” Hearn added. “Coming off the pandemic, this is what the sport needs. It’s the shot in the arm it needs. AJ is just different, he transcends the sexes, ages, religions, countries and that is the only way we are going to grow boxing. Not many people can do it.
“AJ wants to fight for the undisputed title, and I think AJ will knock him out. Tonight AJ got hit once with a right hand, that was it. Fury and Pulev probably punch as hard as each other. Fury is a lot better than Pulev. By rights, this should be the toughest fight out there as it is an undisputed fight.
“I’ve always fancied him to beat Fury but Fury is at the peak of his powers and so is AJ, which is why it is so great if we get it made. You saw with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao [that it came too long after their prime] and it was rubbish in the end.”
Within minutes of Joshua’s triumph Fury took to social media to say that he would school his fellow champion “in two or three rounds” and was “ready to go”.
Joshua was more tempered in his response, saying that he would fight “anyone put in front of me”.
Hearn said: “He has learnt his lesson from his early days? ‘Fury, where are you?’ He just got sick and tired of people talking s—. It is not about Tyson Fury. Deontay Wilder tried to make AJ look like he didn’t want to fight, so AJ is saying he will fight whoever you put in front of me. I am under instructions to make that fight [with Fury]. He will not shout ‘you big dosser’ [Fury’s taunt] and do Instagram posts because it is not his style. You will see if he wants the fight because the proof will be in the pudding.
“As for the broadcast deal, it is complex. We need to maximise the revenue for the fighters. In the UK, AJ has an exclusive deal with Sky, Fury has a matching price deal with BT. In America Fury has an exclusive deal with ESPN and AJ has a matching deal with DAZN. I can’t talk on behalf of Sky but they will feel probably quite comfortable that they will get the majority of buys in that instance. If it means them getting the fight, I can’t see any obstacles. There is no one saying ‘no’.”
The main obstacle is the Fury-Wilder issue, under dispute from the American’s team. Fury defeated Wilder to take the WBC title in February in Las Vegas. Wilder’s team claim the trilogy contest is contractual; Arum and Warren claim the time frame has elapsed. An American judge is mediating the situation.
“If the court order the Fury rematch, and it doesn’t sound as though they will, then it is out of our hands,” Hearn said. “That is the only way it falls through – if something stops their side. That isn’t me saying they don’t want it, they do. But if the court order it then Joshua will have to fight Oleksandr Usyk and defend the WBO title.
“Arum seems very confident that the Wilder-Fury fight is not on. Unless he has made a complete b—s up, it sounds like the fight is dead.”
That is the answer most of the sports world would like to hear this week.