Anthony Joshua to defend his WBA, IBF and WBO belts against WBC champion Tyson Fury in an undisputed world title fight, with a date and venue to be confirmed, after British rivals both signed a contract
They have both signed the contract for their £200million mega-fight – but there remains work to be done before it can be announced.
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have 30 days to secure a venue and date for their £200million mega-fight – or risk the deal collapsing.
The fight is set to take place on July 26 or July 3 but the two teams now have a month to agree on that – and a host country.
Saudi Arabia remains in pole position due to its ability to pay a site fee sufficient for Joshua and Fury to each earn £100m.
But Singapore, Macau and the United States are also in the running, along with other countries in the Middle East.
And a source told ESPN: “It’s pending, finding a site and a date that’s acceptable to both (fighters’ camps). We have 30 days from the signing, or the deal could go away.”
Fury and Joshua agreed a 50/50 financial split last summer but only recently reached a point where they were ready to sign.
And while there is no shortage of offers to play host, the challenge is finding a suitable venue during the ongoing pandemic.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said: “We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month. The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper. But this was a major effort from all parties to get this over the line.
“You had rival promoters, rival networks and rival fighters.
“I actually feel we’ve done the hard part. Speaking for myself, Anthony and his team at 258 management, I know how hard we’ve worked these last couple of months and I just feel that this fight is so big it’s not a difficult sell.
“We’ve already had approaches from eight or nine sites. The offers have come from multiple countries in the Middle East, from Asia, Eastern Europe and America.
“This is the biggest fight in boxing and one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It will be a major, major win for a country that wants to showcase itself.”
Although Covid-19 put paid to the fight taking place at Wembley, there is hope the second instalment can take place in Cardiff in November or December.
The winner of the first fight would be guaranteed a 60 per cent cut of the purse for the sequel.
