Dana White has doubled down on claims he is playing a key role in Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, despite Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren insisting otherwise.
Joshua and Fury have signed to face off later this year following almost a decade of being linked together. The fight still has its obstacles in the form of ‘warm-up’ fights for both men, with ‘AJ’ facing Kristian Prenga on July 25 and Fury prepping an announcement for his own interim bout.
Assuming both men navigate their interim bouts, Fury and Joshua are expected to meet in November. In the meantime, a war of words on the promotional status of the event has begun.
Dana White, of the UFC and Zuffa Boxing, has looked to continue his disruption of the sport by announcing that he will be promoting the historic British fight. Both Hearn and Warren, who represent Joshua and Fury respectively, have said that, contractually, that is not possible.
At the post-fight press conference for Zuffa’s first UK show, topped by Chris Billam-Smith’s win over Ryan Rozicki, White was asked once again about his involvement, and said that he has had more involvement than Hearn in the process so far, hinting that that will be the case going forward.
“Have they announced where that fight is? I know where it is. Watch what happens over the next 30 days. Do you think that I would publicly lie and then look like a f***ing idiot in front of everybody? Do you believe that I would? What would be the point of that? 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.”
Hearn recently revealed that both the UK and the US are in the running to host the event, but has consistently said that the final decision comes down to boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh, who has been instrumental in both Joshua and Fury’s fights in recent times.
The British promoters are yet to respond to White’s latest claims.
