Eddie Hearn says Dana White’s public comments about promoting Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury were quickly corrected by Turki Alalshikh, as confusion continues around who will control the proposed heavyweight fight.
Joshua and Fury have both signed contracts, but the fight is still not ready to be announced. Joshua must first face Kristian Prenga on July 25, while Fury is expected to take a warm-up fight of his own. The date, location and final broadcast details for Joshua-Fury remain unresolved.
White had suggested after Zuffa Boxing’s Bournemouth show that he knew the location, date and would be promoting the event. Hearn says those comments were later removed after Alalshikh stepped in.
“He got his bum smacked by Turki Alalshikh and they had to delete all of their messages about him saying he’s promoting the event,” Hearn said.
Hearn also pointed to Fury’s recent appearance at the UFC White House event, where an alliance with White was teased. The next day, Fury posted that Alalshikh was his promoter, which Hearn described as a second public correction.
According to both Matchroom and Queensberry, the current contracts do not allow Zuffa to be the lead promoter. There is also another complication: if the fight lands on Netflix, neither Matchroom nor Queensberry can promote it because of their exclusive broadcast deals with DAZN.
Hearn says he remains open to renegotiating if the fight moves to America, but insists Joshua’s current deal states the bout must take place in the UK. For now, he says the next step depends on Alalshikh.
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