Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua’s proposed fight with Tyson Fury will not go ahead as things stand, insisting he will not “play a game” with the WBC heavyweight champion.
Fury initially offered Joshua the chance of a December bout last month, with Hearn subsequently revealing positive talks had been held with the Gypsy King’s team.
However, Fury then set Joshua’s representatives a deadline of September 26 to get the fight signed off, and declared discussions were “officially over” when that was not met.
Last week, Hearn told Sky Sports he was “baffled” by Fury’s antics, adding: “we’ll see what happens from here”.
Hearn now appears convinced the fight will not take place, and has hit out at Fury for repeatedly insulting Joshua on social media.
“As far as we’re concerned, the fight’s off. We’re happy to continue the discussions,” Hearn said in an interview with Matchroom Boxing.
“In our mind, he’s not fighting Anthony Joshua. We’re more than happy to continue those conversations, but what we’ve been told is the deadline has passed, and so have the entire country.
“We have sent the final version of the contract back, they’ve come back with points and we were told that the fight is off by the man himself.
“They gave us terms, ultimately, and a date they thought we wouldn’t accept. We did accept that. We were ready to go.
“If they were to sign the contract on Monday [September 26], they had a fight. We were asked to agree the deal by Monday, then we were asked to agree it by Wednesday.
“We got the comments back on Wednesday. We were never going to sign the fight [then], and we were told the fight’s off.
“It’s still there. It’s still open for discussion. But we’re not going to play a game with a bloke that’s just coming out telling AJ it’s off, and then that he’s a ‘dosser’, that he’s got to sign it, etc.
“Have your fight if you fight someone else, and we’ll do our thing and we’ll see what happens.”
Source: Livescore