Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are now unlikely to face off next week after Fury threw their heavyweight showdown into doubt. Joshua and Fury signed separate contracts earlier this year, with Joshua's containing the condition the fight would take place in the UK this winter. But having dispatched their respective warm-up opponents in July, a row erupted over where the all-British clash, which has been 10 years in the making, would be held.
Promoter dispute and location row
Although the fight pits Eddie Hearn, who has represented Joshua since he turned professional in 2013, against Frank Warren, who has guided Fury since his comeback in 2018, a third promoter - UFC CEO Dana White - is also involved. Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi powerbroker behind his country's investment in boxing, instructed TKO - which owns UFC - to strike a deal with Netflix to broadcast Joshua vs Fury.
TKO also holds a 40 per cent stake in Zuffa Boxing, the brainchild of 57-year-old White. The other 60 per cent of the company, which means 'fight' in Italian, is held by SELA - the company backed by Saudi's Public Investment Fund. That is how White leveraged himself into a fight between the best British heavyweights of their generation.
Contract breach and venue uncertainty
Hearn insists White was influential in convincing Alalshikh that the fight should be held in New York, specifically at Madison Square Garden on November 20. But moving the fight 3,500 miles across the Atlantic directly contravened Joshua's contract which stated the bout must take place in the UK. Hearn and Joshua refused to budge and ultimately, Cardiff's Principality Stadium was announced as playing host in the early hours of December 12 and a press conference was scheduled for next Wednesday in London. But the announcement proved to be little more than a temporary break in the war.
On Friday night, Fury took to social media to accuse Joshua of threatening to pull out of the fight. Alternative bouts were floated on social media by The Ring magazine, which is owned by Alalshikh, including Fury taking on cruiserweight world champion David Benavidez. Joshua had planned to fly to London this weekend ahead of his media obligations but has chosen to remain in Dubai, while Fury is training in Miami.
Drug-testing and Dana White clause
Last week, Anthony Joshua took the unusual step of leaking an email sent to VADA - the anti-doping body which conducts drug-testing for major fights. The correspondence questioned when Tyson Fury was going to enrol in testing. Joshua's team is of the belief Fury should have been tested continually since his win over Arslanbek Makhmudov and through his fight with Mariusz Wach in July. But Fury's team insisted last week they would begin testing when the fight with Joshua was made official. "Once the fight has been officially finalised, VADA will be the first people we will be calling," read a statement issued to Mirror Fighting.
Another clause in Joshua's contract insisted Dana White would not be involved in the promoting of the former two-time world champion's fight with Fury. Joshua nailed his colours to Hearn's mast after White convinced Conor Benn to leave Matchroom for Zuffa Boxing earlier this year. But despite the clause, White was quoted on the official fight announcement and appears to have little interest in backing down. On Friday night, he posted a photo on his social media accounts showing him on a video call with Alalshikh - who is keen to have White involved - while smoking a cigar.
Fury, who was flown to Washington in June to sit ringside with White and President Donald Trump for a UFC event, also revealed he had the same clause barring White from being involved, but later asked for it to be removed. "In Joshua's contract apparently it says that TKO and Dana couldn't be involved but that was in mine but I took it out," he said. "I took it out because I want him involved. I like Dana; he is a good businessman and a good guy - a man who came from nothing to become a billionaire. Look what he's done with the UFC; unbelievable. I think he can do really well in boxing. I think he drives Eddie Hearn out and feeds him to the fishes."
Fight night set-up
Although the Principality Stadium in Cardiff has been announced as the venue, few other details have been confirmed. It is not clear which fighter will be in the 'home' dressing room used by the Welsh rugby and football teams. Although both dressing rooms are equal in size, the home version has more mod cons than the bare visitors space. Hearn has claimed both Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn were promised the home dressing room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when they met last year and fears the same will be true of Joshua and Fury.
There has also been no clarification as to which fighter will walk to the ring first. In title fights, the champion walks to the ring second, although, in a break with tradition, Joshua did so when he challenged Daniel Dubois at Wembley two years ago. Joshua's clash with Fury will be for the vacant WBA 'Super' world title, meaning there is no obvious candidate to walk first. Fury's promoter Frank Warren has suggested tossing a coin.
Although it may seem a trivial issue, leaving the dressing rooms second would allow either Joshua or Fury to delay their entrance and leave their rival hanging around in the ring on a freezing winter's night. Small margins in a £150million fight which now hangs in the balance once again.
