18 September 2020

Anthony Joshua v Tyson Fury mega-fight moving closer to completion, confirms promoter Eddie Hearn

Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed talks for the huge heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are moving forward for next year.

Joshua and Fury reached a ‘financial agreement’ for two fights in 2021 back in June and are now looking to finalise contracts to put that plan into action.

Joshua regained his heavyweight titles against Andy Ruiz Jr in December of last year (PA)

And while AJ has to overcome mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev and Fury has a trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder, Hearn is confident if both come through their fights then they will meet soon after.

"Yeah, I've been talking to Bob Arum about various things. Fury against Joshua is a big ambition of everybody involved, to be honest," he told Sky Sports.

"We want to talk about it, but we also want to take care of business, which is Kubrat Pulev for AJ, and Deontay Wilder for Tyson Fury.

"I'm very sure you're going to see two versions of that fight in 2021. I think we're on the verge now of papering that deal with Bob Arum. We haven't done it yet, but all the conversations are positive.

"There is a gravitation to bring the titles together, and that would be Joshua and Fury. Obviously we would have loved to do that before the end of this year, but for the pandemic.

"I don't think anybody is wavering from that objective. Both guys have great personalities, they can fight, and it is overdue. Let's get it done."

Fury won the WBC heavyweight title by stopping Deontay Wilder in February (Zuma Press/PA Images)

It is unclear whether all four world heavyweight titles would be on the line in order to make it an undisputed fight.

It may be the case that WBO mandatory Oleksandr Usyk calls for his shot if he comes through Brit Dereck Chisora, meaning Joshua will have to vacate the belt in order to take the Fury clash.

If the undisputed title is on the line for the all-British clash, it would be the first time all the recognised heavyweight belts are up for grabs since Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield in 1999.

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