Dana White Casts Doubt on Fury-Joshua Fight After 24 Hours of Chaos
Key Points
- Dana White said he had "no idea" whether Wednesday's scheduled news conference would take place on Saturday at London's Copper Box.
- Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury were officially announced to fight at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on December 11, live on Netflix.
- Eddie Hearn claimed Joshua's contract prevented White and TKO from having a promotional role, citing breaches of agreement.
By Friday, the certainty surrounding the bout had unraveled into a dispute over promotional rights and contractual obligations. Hearn claimed that Joshua's contract specifically prevented White and American sports entertainment company TKO from having a promotional role. Hearn stated that Netflix had not been made aware of this contractual provision and said there had been breaches of the agreement that needed to be resolved. He cast doubt on whether Wednesday's news conference would proceed.
Fury indicated that his own contract contained a similar restriction preventing White's involvement, but said the restriction was removed because he wanted White involved. Warren, Fury's promoter, took a more pragmatic position when speaking to BBC Sport before the dispute escalated. He said his understanding was that White had helped secure the Netflix deal and that compromises had been necessary to get the fight made.
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On Saturday, White was generally non-committal about the future of the contest but expressed clear criticism of Hearn's role in the situation. "The guy who is supposed to be helping the fight has been hurting the fight," White said. "He hasn't done the fight any favours."
The rapid deterioration of certainty around the fight announcement represents an unusual degree of public conflict for a major heavyweight bout. White's statement that he had "no idea" whether the scheduled news conference would occur on Wednesday indicates fundamental uncertainty persists about whether the December 11 fight will take place, despite the official announcement through Netflix just two days earlier. The dispute centres on who retains the contractual right to promote the event, with Hearn's exclusion from the initial announcement creating conflicting claims over promotional authority that threaten the bout's viability.
Related coverage: Rio Ngumoha Omitted From England Squad to Face Spain
Sources: BBC Sport and other international news outlets.
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