By Tim Parsons-
Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is set to be staged in Saudi Arabia on either August 7 or 14, promoter Eddie Hearn has said. However, the final details of the fight are yet to be finalised.
Hearn says Joshua is growing impatient with Fury, who is yet to agree the remaining terms, but the Matchroom boss remains confident the fight will be announced this week.
Boxing fans are also growing impatient with the uncertainty surrounding the fight, and Eddie Hearns really should stop the speculation until he has something concret about the fight.
“August 7th, August 14th,” Hearn told Sky Sports News about a potential date.
“I think it’s a very bad secret that the fight is happening in Saudi Arabia. To be honest with you, I don’t mind giving you that information. Bob Arum [Fury’s US promoter] has already done it.
“It’s the same people that we did the deal with Andy Ruiz [rematch]. That event was spectacular.
“As partners, they were fantastic as well. We’re very comfortable. Anthony is very comfortable, he knows those people. They’ve delivered on every one of their promises last time. We’re ready to go.
Fury has not boxed since he stopped Deontay Wilder to claim the WBC title last February, while Joshua is also eager to return to action after defending his WBA, IBF and WBO belts with a knockout win over Kubrat Pulev in December.
Action
The tweet from AJ last night was, ‘Come on, less talk, more action. Let’s get this done!’ There’s no reason why it shouldn’t happen this week.
Eddie Hearn said: “I saw the tweets from AJ. He’s tired, the fans are tired, and everyone is tired,” Hearn told Sky Sports News.
“We’re in a stage where people are getting frustrated. The deal is done.
“Now we’re on the finer details of the contract, which came back last Friday. It went back last night. They are on calls now in the office about it, and I think at some point people are going to have to take a little bit of a leap of faith in this deal.
“From our perspective and AJ’s perspective, we’re ready to go. From Tyson Fury’s perspective, they’ve got a couple of lawyers across it from their point.
“The tweet from AJ last night was, ‘Come on, less talk, more action. Let’s get this done!’
“There’s no reason why it shouldn’t happen this week. This is kind of like the moment where you could actually turn around at this point and say, ‘This is dragging on too long, or I can’t be dealing with this anymore.’
“But we have to nail this, and I’m not going to stop until I nail it, and everyone has just got to move forward collectively.
“We’re ready to go from our side. We’re not far away from their side and it is inevitable, but at the same time, we’ve got to close the door on it.”