WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury sent out what appears to be a Tweet warning message today that three are three days left for the promoters for his July undisputed fight against IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua to find a site.
Although Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) didn’t directly come out and say that he’s walking away, it’s assumed that’s what he meant by saying three days are remaining to meet the April 10th deadline to get the venue.
Fury, 32, already signed a two-fight deal with Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) for the two heavyweight champions to meet twice in 2021, but that deal will be null & void if a site deal isn’t agreed upon.
Fury can walk away if he chooses if Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie hearn fails to produce a venue by April 10th, but Eddie seems to believe they can go over.
In theory, they can, but if Fury is sick & tired of waiting around, he could, and they won’t be able to do anything about it. Fury has already been waiting over a year to get the fight with Joshua done, and he seems like he’s at the end of his rope.
If they can’t meet the deadline, we’ll see if Fury is willing to walk away from a $100 million+ payday that he’s expected to get for the fight with Joshua.
It’ll depend on how confident Fury is that he can continue winning long enough to restart negotiations with Joshua at a later date. If Fury gives up on the Joshua fight, he’ll be expected to run the gauntlet in fights against Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte, Andy Ruiz Jr, and Luis Ortiz.
Those will be tough fights for Fury, and he might not be able to count on winning by roughing up all of them the way he did with Wilder and Otto Wallin.
It’s not just Fury, though. If Joshua loses once or twice, then the money that Fury would have received fighting him will likely decrease.
Hearn told the AK & Barak show on DAZN that he’ll list Joshua and Fury’s choices at the end of this week. It’ll be up to them to decide on the choices he gives them.
This Friday is April 9th, which is one day away from the deadline on the 10th
Joshua has been quite clear that he would prefer the fight take place in the UK at Wembley Stadium, but unfortunately, the site fee likely wouldn’t be anywhere near to what is expected to be offered from one of the Middle East countries.
