The megafight between heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will finally become a reality as both sides already agreed to a two-fight deal. After encountering several hurdles, the pen was finally put to paper as the fighters agreed to fight in a bout that would unify the heavyweight titles.
“We'd like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month,” said Eddie Hearn, managing director of Matchroom Sport, Anthony Joshua's promoter. “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.”
Hearn claimed that they have been getting significant interest from venues across several countries that are willing to host the big event. However, Middle East continues to be an attractive destination as Hearn reportedly secured an excess of $40 million in site fees when he promoted Joshua's previous fight against Andy Ruiz Jr. in Saudi Arabia back in December of 2019.
“This is the biggest fight in boxing and one of the biggest sporting events in the world,” Hearn said. “It will be a major, major win for a country that wants to showcase itself.”
The newly-signed contract will reportedly have a 50-50 split in earnings for the first match while the winner will have a 60-40 advantage in the rematch bout. According to ESPN, the plan is to hold the fight in either June or July while the rematch is slated to be on either November or December of 2021.
Anthony Joshua is currently holding the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO world heavyweight titles since his rematch win against Ruiz. Meanwhile, Tyson Fury is in possession of the WBC and The Ring heavyweight titles after emerging victorious over Deontay Wilder back in February of 2020.
Fireworks are expected to be witnessed by many once the two heavyweight champions collide for a unification bout in the squared circle later this year.
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