Eddie Hearn has said he is prepared to meet Dana White and other Zuffa Boxing representatives over their proposed involvement in Tyson Fury’s scheduled fight with Anthony Joshua, while maintaining that neither can take a role without agreement from Joshua and Matchroom.
Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, told BoxingScene that a meeting in Los Angeles had been requested by Zuffa. He said White would be present, although the report said White subsequently denied that he would attend while speaking at a press conference for Dana White’s Contender Series.
The proposed talks are the latest development in a dispute over White and Zuffa’s claimed promotional or production involvement in Fury versus Joshua, which is scheduled for 11 December. White has repeatedly said that he will promote the contest for Saudi boxing financier Turki Alalshikh. Hearn has disputed that position, saying a clause in Joshua’s contract prevents White’s involvement.
Hearn leaves room for an agreement
Although Hearn continued to argue that Zuffa could not be involved without agreement from him and Joshua, he suggested that the meeting could provide an opportunity to settle the matter rather than extend the public disagreement through the build-up.
He said the discussion might be intended to clear the air or establish what each side would do next. Hearn also indicated that he was not opposed in principle to Zuffa being involved, provided its representatives could explain why such an arrangement would be beneficial to Joshua and Matchroom.
That qualification is important. Hearn’s position, as reported by BoxingScene, was not that no deal could ever be reached; rather, it was that any role would require his and Joshua’s consent. He said Turki Alalshikh and Netflix wanted Zuffa involved and accepted that the company’s participation could assist the promotion. However, he said the existing contractual position had to be respected before any new arrangement could be considered.
Hearn said he believed the parties might ultimately find a solution. That remains an expectation from Joshua’s promoter, not a confirmed settlement, and the report did not establish any agreed terms for Zuffa’s participation.
Promotional paperwork is at the centre of the row
The disagreement has developed despite White’s public insistence that he is both promoting and producing Fury-Joshua. Hearn said he had raised White’s comments with Sela, which he said had told him White’s stated production claim was untrue and that White could not take that role under Joshua’s contract.
BoxingScene also reported that British Boxing Board of Control paperwork for the event identified Matchroom Boxing, Queensberry Promotions and Sela as the promoters. Zuffa was not listed on that form, according to the report.
The paperwork appears to sit uneasily with White’s public claims. He also said a claimed role in television production would be prohibited by the relevant contract.
The distinction between promotion, production and broader involvement is therefore likely to be central to any discussion. Hearn did not identify a proposed role in his quoted comments, saying he wanted Zuffa to explain the benefit to Joshua and Matchroom.
What the meeting could address
Hearn said he was not seeking an apology from White and framed the prospective meeting as a practical discussion about whether there was a way forward. He argued that White should have publicly acknowledged the contractual issue and sought talks with Matchroom, Hearn and Alalshikh rather than continuing to make claims about his role.
His comments leave the dispute unresolved, but they also move it from competing public assertions towards a planned conversation between the parties. The reported meeting concerns promotional and production involvement in the scheduled contest. It is that Joshua’s promoter has signalled a willingness to discuss a negotiated outcome while retaining his stated objection to unauthorised involvement.
Whether that produces an agreement will depend on the talks Hearn has described. At present, the principal new development is his intention to meet Zuffa representatives and his belief that a deal may be possible if an acceptable case is made.