LONDON: The all-British fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury for the undisputed world heavyweight title will take place in Saudi Arabia, promoter Eddie Hearn said on Tuesday.
Hearn, who represents Joshua, said the fight is likely to take place on Aug. 7 or Aug. 14. He said Aug. 14 is his preferred date because the Olympic Games in Tokyo will have finished, making the Joshua-Fury fight a bigger “global spectacle.”
Saudi Arabia staged Joshua's rematch against Andy Ruiz, when the Briton regained his WBA, IBF and WBO titles in December 2019, putting him on a collision course with Fury, who became the WBC champion shortly afterwards.
“August 7, August 14,” Hearn said on Sky Sports when asked about a date for Joshua-Fury. “It's a very bad secret that the fight is happening in Saudi Arabia. I don't mind giving that information, Bob Arum's already done it.
“It's the same people we did the deal with for Andy Ruiz, that event was spectacular. As partners, they were fantastic as well, so we're very comfortable.
“We're very comfortable. Anthony's comfortable, he knows those people. They delivered on every one of their promises last time -- we're ready to go.”
Hearn has yet to respond to AP requests to confirm the details of the fight.
READ MORE
On a rainy night in Diriyah in 2019, Anthony Joshua regained his world heavyweight titles after a unanimous points decision from the judges over Andy Ruiz Jr in an epic night of boxing in Saudi Arabia. Read how it happened here.
Joshua’s only fight since his bout in the Kingdom saw him retain his titles by knocking out Kubrat Pulev in December.
Fury hasn’t fought since beating Deontay Wilder in February last year to capture the WBC title.
Fury and Joshua have called each other out over Twitter over the last 24 hours, both urging the other to finalize terms for the fight.
Hearn said the “deal is done” but there was frustration on both sides that the fight had not been officially announced.
“From our perspective and AJ’s perspective, we’re ready to go,” he said. “From Tyson Fury’s perspective, they’ve got a couple of lawyers across it from their point.
“We have to nail this,” Hearn added, “and I’m not going to stop until I nail it, and everyone has just got to move forward collectively. We’re ready to go from our side. We’re not far away from their side and it is inevitable.”
