Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua does not want his long-awaited fight with Tyson Fury moved to New York and claims Joshua’s contract specifically requires the bout to take place in the United Kingdom.
Reports have linked the heavyweight showdown to Madison Square Garden on November 20, with Netflix, Turki Alalshikh and Fury’s side all reportedly interested in staging the fight in the United States.
Hearn, however, says Joshua insisted on inserting a UK venue clause before signing the agreement. “Anthony Joshua made me insert a clause into the contract that said the fight must happen in the UK,” he said.
That means moving the fight to New York would not be as simple as choosing a new venue. If Hearn’s description of the contract is correct, Joshua would need to agree to revised terms before the location could be changed.
“We’re under a lot of pressure,” Hearn admitted. “It sounds like everybody’s agreed they want to do this fight at Madison Square Garden. We don’t.”
Hearn said Team Joshua now wants to make changing the contract financially unattractive enough that organizers are forced to keep the event in Britain. His argument is that Joshua would not have agreed to the original deal had it specified an American venue.
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