Tyson Fury’s proposed heavyweight fight with Anthony Joshua remains on the schedule for Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on 11 December, but an argument over promotional rights has placed the newly announced event in serious doubt.
Netflix had presented the contest as a global broadcast involving Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring and Dana White, whose Zuffa Boxing venture has entered the sport. Yet Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, has said Joshua’s agreement does not permit White or TKO to hold a promotional role. The disagreement has escalated rapidly despite the fight’s formal announcement.
The contest has not been cancelled. As of Saturday night, the BBC reported that Netflix was still listing Fury against Joshua in Cardiff and still expected both boxers at a London news conference on Wednesday. But the central issue — precisely what role White and Zuffa Boxing can have — had not been publicly resolved.
A contractual disagreement behind the uncertainty
Hearn told iFL TV that White could not be involved in promoting the bout, despite the wording of Netflix’s announcement. He said the situation had to be dealt with and maintained that his side would stand by its contractual position. According to the BBC, Hearn said Netflix had not been aware of the relevant provision in Joshua’s contract.
Fury has taken the opposing view. The BBC reported that he said a comparable restriction had initially appeared in his own deal but was removed because he wanted White involved. Fury then claimed on social media that Joshua and Hearn were attempting to withdraw from the fight, blaming Hearn’s objection to White.
That allegation should be treated as Fury’s claim rather than an established account of events. The supplied reporting contains no announcement from Joshua saying he intends to pull out. Hearn’s reported public position has focused on White’s proposed promotional involvement, not an explicit statement that Joshua will not box Fury.
Fury nevertheless offered a strikingly pessimistic assessment when asked about the contest on his YouTube channel. Sky Sports reported that he put its prospects at one per cent, arguing that a fight could not be made if one participant did not want it. He also said, however, that signed agreements and what he had heard about payments already being made meant he thought it could still proceed.
White and Warren offer contrasting assessments
White has not provided certainty either. Speaking after the Zuffa Boxing event at London’s Copper Box, he said he did not know whether Fury and Joshua would meet as planned or whether Wednesday’s news conference would happen. He criticised Hearn’s handling of the matter, arguing that the person meant to be assisting the event had instead harmed it.
White also rejected a suggestion aired during the US broadcast of the Zuffa Boxing card that he was simply helping Alalshikh personally rather than operating as a promoter. That distinction matters because Hearn’s objection is specifically to White and TKO having a promotional role.
Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, has supplied the principal counterweight to the increasingly public pessimism. He told the Guardian that he believed the bout would still take place because of the Saudi financial backing and the consequences should contracted parties fail to fulfil their obligations. Warren had previously told the BBC that White helped secure the Netflix arrangement and that compromises were necessary to make the fight.
The row carries added significance because Fury-Joshua has repeatedly failed to reach the ring. The BBC reported that the camps agreed the basis of a two-fight arrangement in 2020, while signed contracts for an undisputed contest in 2021 were overtaken by Deontay Wilder’s successful arbitration case. A further attempt in 2022 also fell apart.
For now, the Cardiff date and Netflix broadcast remain in place, but the event’s status is unresolved. For now, the unresolved question is whether Joshua’s claimed contractual restriction can be reconciled with the announced involvement of White and Zuffa Boxing.