Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury in jeopardy over Gypsy King’s demands, says promoter Eddie Hearn
Matchroom boss says ex-champion should have been stripped of his last remaining Ring belt 'a long time ago'
ANTHONY JOSHUA against Tyson Fury is in serious jeopardy due to the Gypsy King’s TV money demands, according to AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn
The Matchroom boss says making the fight – which is already billed as the biggest in British boxing history – will be complicated now Fury has linked up with his rival promoter Frank Warren.
Hearn believes that Fury will need to be on pay-per-view for his initial comeback fights if he is to be paid what he wants, but says Warren doesn’t have a PPV deal set up with BoxNation and BT Sport.
When asked if Fury signing with Warren complicates the Joshua deal, : “It probably does.
“Who knows what his contract will entail. Will he sign for Frank? Maybe not, but will he work with him? Probably.
“You’ve got to pay Fury three or four million in his first fight, as that’s what we would, so Frank must as well.
“But the only way I think you can do that is on PPV and I don’t believe Frank has a PPV system in place.”
Hearn said that Fury has to announce at least a date for his next fight by the end of Thursday if he is looking at keeping his Ring Magazine belt.
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He added: “It will be interesting to see what happens in the next 24 to 48 hours because he has to announce a fight or a date today otherwise he’ll get stripped of the Ring Magazine belt.
“I think he’ll say he’s fighting on a date with an opponent TBA, but the opponent has to be in the top five of the Ring rankings and that could only realistically be Alexander Povetkin, but he’s fighting David Price.
“I think they should have stripped him of the belt a long time ago.”
