It was never going to be a smooth ride to get to Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury. Though contracts have been signed for the British rivals to at last fight late in 2026, likely November, little else has been confirmed.
Both have interim fights to negotiate. Joshua, 29-4 (26 KOs), will take on the unheralded Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia on July 25 and, though not yet announced, the 35-2-1 (24 KOs) Fury is expected to warm-up for Joshua in August with Nelson Hysa the latest opponent to be linked to the “Gypsy King”.
Presuming both win, and then decide to move forward with the current arrangement, it just leaves the not-so-small matter of where it will take place to decide. There is also squabbling about who the official promoter of the event really is.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s longtime promoter, found himself under fire from Dana White last weekend. The Zuffa Boxing boss suggested that it is he, and not Hearn or Fury’s promoter Frank Warren, who is pulling the most important strings behind the scenes alongside financier Turki Alalshikh.
“Have they announced where that fight is? No. I know where it is,” White said in Bournemouth following Chris Billam-Smith’s victory over Ryan Rozicki on Zuffa’s debut UK show. “Call Eddie right now and ask him if he knows where the fight is. Call Eddie and ask him who negotiated the contract for the fight. It wasn’t him.”
There have since been suggestions that the fight will take place in the US and not the UK, with BoxingScene reporting Tuesday that initial conversations have occurred that could see the battle land in SiFo Stadium in Los Angeles. BoxingScene also understands that Las Vegas, specifically the MGM Grand, is also consideration. It would seem, however, that options are being kept open at this stage rather than final decisions being made.
Hearn, who has guided Joshua since day one of his professional career, last week told BoxingScene that the fight could take place in the US due to less volatile weather conditions than the UK late in the year. But today he indicated that for the fight to be hosted by an American venue, certain terms on the signed contracts would need to change.
“There has been some murmuring of the fight taking place in the US,” Hearn told BoxingScene. “The contract specifically states that the fight must take place in the UK.
“Right now there is no official confirmation.”
