Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury has now been officially confirmed after the duo signed a two-fight deal for what will be the biggest bout in British boxing history according to Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, though, date and venue will be announced in the coming weeks.
The heavyweight boxing rivals agreed with terms in principle last year but have now put pen to paper after contracts were finalised. The first fight is expected to take place between June and July with Saudi Arabia a likely host. Both fighters will earn £100million each but the winner will be crowned the first undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 after the WBO agreed to waive Joshua’s mandatory responsibilities. With the clash been finalised, promoters Eddie Hearn, Bob Arum and Frank Warren will look to complete a separate site deal which will determine where and when the event takes place within 30 days.
According to Hearn, “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 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. 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.”
Fury, 32, first became world champion after dethroning long-reigning ruler Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 and picked up three of the four major belts in one night – the WBA, IBF and WBO. However, due to his mental health, all titles were stripped off him and declared vacant before Joshua, 31, emerged on the scene and over the next two years picked up all three of Fury’s old belts by beating Charles Martin, Klitschko and Joseph Parker.
After returning to shape in 2018, Fury challenged WBC champion Deontay Wilder for the only belt he’d never previously owned. All four belts are in possession of the two Brits, who will meet this summer to bring them all together and crown an undisputed champion.
