Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury to be announced 'very, very soon'

MANCHESTER, England – Eddie Hearn has all but confirmed that a deal for the long-awaited clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury is completed for December 11 in Cardiff, Wales.

It seems Hearn and Joshua have finally got their wish of the contest taking place in the UK after refusing to back down when every other party – Turki Alalshikh and Sela, Netflix, Dana White and TKO, and even Team Fury – seemed set on the event taking place in the US for financial reasons.

A date of November 20 had been agreed, with Madison Square Garden in New York lined up as the venue, but Hearn resisted at Joshua’s insistence because the former champion’s initial contract stipulated that the fight had to take place in the UK. What followed was a long and winding tug-of-war, with Joshua even rejecting financial incentives from TKO to secure the fight stateside.

“Over the last week or two, obviously we made our decision, and AJ was the guy leading that decision that we weren’t interested in accepting any extra money or changing the terms of the agreement to change the location,” said Hearn.

“He decided that he wanted to make sure that the fight was in the UK, and since then they’ve accepted that. We’ve worked together and we’ve been speaking to Netflix on regular occasions to basically lock in the date.

“I think the date is locked in, and I’ll let them give you the official announcement. It was supposed to be this week, but I think it’s going to be very, very soon.”

The date of December 11 at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium was first reported by Dan Rafael, with confirmation from the local council over the bout taking place at a reported time of 2am the only thing holding the fight back. Hearn admitted there are no longer any obstacles standing in the way of that date.

“No, nothing [is standing in the way],” he said. “I think there have obviously been conversations. I don’t think you’re going to see a 3am fight. I don’t think you’re going to see the fight that late.

“Obviously, there had to be conversations with the stadiums to see what’s possible and what’s not possible. I think that’s probably a reason for the slight delay, to make sure that everything was boxed off from the councils to have a slightly later start time.”