Sports

Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury sign £200m two-fight deal

The biggest fight in British boxing history has moved closer to fruition after contracts were signed by Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury on Monday, to punch for the undisputed heavyweight title.

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed that the paperwork has been completed, exchanged and signed for two mega-fights, with the first scheduled for this summer.

A date and venue will be finalised in the next three weeks to a month, with late June or early July the prime options for the opening showdown.

The Middle East is currently putting up the most enticing proposals, with Saudi Arabia understood to be leading the way.

It is hoped by both parties that the first fight could be worth as much as £100million per man as Joshua, the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO champion, finally goes head-to-head with his fierce rival – Fury – the WBC belt holder.

Hearn said: “All sides have now put pen to paper on what will be the biggest fight in boxing.

“We will now collectively look at the best site deal. We have had a lot of offers and now we will go over the details and see what works the best for this historic fight.

“The agreement is for two fights and getting the names on contracts is a huge step. We will hopefully be in a position to confirm details on where and when in the next month.”

The split for the first fight will be an even 50-50, with the winner going on to command 40-40 of the purse for the rematch. Each fighter is bidding to become the first to hold the undisputed crown since Lennox Lewis.

Hearn and Fury’s camp, led by Bob Arum and Frank Warren, have received lucrative site proposals from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the US and Australia, among others.

Restrictions around the pandemic have long since ruled out the UK as an option for the first fight, but there remains an appetite for the rematch to be held on these shores.

The money-spinning two-fight deal is all set to eclipse Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao as the most lucrative bout in the sport’s history

Both Joshua, 31, and Fury, 32, are set to earn £100million each as part of the eye-watering purse.

Hearn revealed the break-through on Monday when he exclaimed ‘the hard bit is now over the line’ giving fans the excuse to now get excited about the fight finally coming to fruition.

“We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month,’ Hearn added.

“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.’

“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 managment, I know how hard we’ve worked hard these last couple of months and I just feel that this fight is so big it’s not a difficult sell.”

Concerns had grown among boxing fans that the fight would never have the chance to materialise due to mandatory challengers to both stars, meaning the respective schedules of AJ and Fury would never align.

Hearn, however, is now marveling in the fact that he has secured the arrangements for boxing’s ‘biggest’ clash, which he believes will hugely benefit the UK.

Hearn added: “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.”

 

The Eye Witness

 

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