Eddie Hearn slams ’embarrasing’ Dana White and says UFC boss will not promote Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua

Eddie Hearn has doubled down on Dana White not being involved in the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight.

Fury and Joshua are being planned to meet this November in a blockbuster bout several years in the making, but disagreements over where the fight will take place have delayed an announcement.

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Despite a clause in Joshua’s signed contract to face Fury stating the fight must take place on British soil, New York’s Madison Square Garden has since emerged as the frontrunner to host it.

Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh and streaming giant Netflix are reportedly pushing for the fight to take place in America on a Friday to capitalise on a prime-time US audience.

A trailer for Fury vs Joshua that aired on Netflix last week then added fuel to the fire over an imminent announcement, before ‘The Gypsy King’ took to social media to declare ‘big news’ was coming soon.

However, Hearn poured cold water on any form of imminent announcement and threatened to sue White for ‘purporting to have the ability to stage the fight.’

Hearn said there was ‘absolutely no agreement’ to change the initial contract signed by AJ, meaning he could legally cancel it altogether if Alalshikh jumped the gun on an early announcement.

An addendum was sent just days ago, as Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing presented a list of requirements needed for Fury vs Joshua to fight in the US.

This prompted an angry online rant from Fury, who claimed the Joshua fight was close to collapsing as Hearn and his team ‘want more money’ before later inviting White to ‘come in on my side.’

Eddie Hearn: Dana White’s words are ’embarrassing’

But speaking to talkSPORT in London fresh off George Liddard’s eight-round stoppage win over Dario Morello, Hearn explained what, from his side, was actually the case.

And it’s fair to say Hearn is entirely confident that White will have nothing to do with promoting the all-British clash.

“I thought, ‘That’s a way to get Dana involved,’” Hearn responded when asked about Fury’s comments.

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“You’ve got to remember, Dana White told the world he’s the promoter of the event. He’s not, he can’t be, and he won’t be.

“Now, if he comes in as a representative or an advisor for Tyson Fury, I guess they could sneak him in on that team.

“A bit embarrassing because he told everyone he’s the promoter. The promoter of the event is Turki Alalshikh.”

On Fury’s suggestion the fight was on the verge of disappearing, Hearn added: “The fight’s not falling through.

“We’re not walking away from a fight. All we’re asking for is that you honour the contract that you signed. You honour everything that we agreed to.

“Why should we take less money to do the fight in another country? Why should we all of a sudden do all these extra media responsibilities that are trying to be thrown in?

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“Why should we fight in a country that we didn’t even sign up to do? We want the fight to happen in Britain. That’s what we’re fighting for.

“So you can listen to Tyson Fury rant on Instagram and tell you, ‘The dosser is running.’ We’re not running from anything.

“Just phone us up and tell us November 21 at Wembley or any date you want — we’re there, you can do the press conference immediately. It’s on.”

Hearn said the addendum sent to Saudi Arabian entertainment company Sela featured ‘basic stuff’ all related to the fight.

“The reality is, by changing the venue to America, Anthony Joshua makes significantly less money than he would have done to fight in where the contract was signed for, in the UK,” he added.

“There are additional media responsibilities that they want. There’s additional travel that needs to be taken care of.

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“No one would read it and go, ‘Oh, I can’t believe they’re asking for that!’ We’re trying to help these guys. They’re our partners. They’re our friends.

“There’s been a lot of stuff going on in the last 24 to 48 hours, which is diabolical, to be honest with you. But it’s the game.

“I get they want the fight in America, but that’s just not what we agreed — we don’t do business like that.

“We don’t breach contracts. When we tell you we’re going to do something, we do it.

“That’s what they’ve always done. So we hope that’s where we’re going to get to.”

On a slightly worrying note for those wanting Fury vs Joshua, Hearn highlighted that both parties are ‘running out of time to continue these negotiations.’

But he says the only thing that can happen is Alalshikh and Sela breach the signed contract.