Contracts have been signed for Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to fight twice, according to Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
There is still plenty to be decided, with the next step being the venue for the bouts, which Hearn is targeting for the next month. However, he is not expecting that to be an issue, saying the hard part of the deal has now been done.
“‘We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month,”Hearn told ESPN. ‘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 hard 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. Tyson Fury reveals major WWE plans cancelled due to Covid pandemic
Dillian Whyte could emulate Tyson Fury tactics in Alexander Povetkin rematch, says trainer. The plan is for both fights to take place in 2021, with the first as early as June and the second in November or December. The first bout looks most likely to be in the Middle East, while the second could be in the UK if there are no longer social distancing restrictions and a full crowd could be allowed. The fighters will split the first purse 50-50, with the winner taking the lion’s share of the 60-40 split in the rematch.