Eddie Hearn has explained why Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury did not go ahead after the promoter was heckled by a boxing fan. Joshua and Fury were billed to fight next month after Joshua accepted the offer from the Gypsy King, in what was titled the ‘Battle of Britain’.
Despite this, a saga was to follow after Fury accused his fellow Englishman of failing to sign the contract after offering AJ and his team a deadline. When the deadline was missed Fury took to social media to announce to the world that the fight was in fact off.
Just days later though, the Gypsy King then returned to his Instagram account to reveal he had given Joshua more time to finalise the details in order to get the fight done after being convinced by his promoter Frank Warren. Once again though, talks did not materialise and the bout was officially called off last month.
There has been plenty of dispute as to why the Battle of Britain never went ahead, with both sides blaming each other for the breakdown. Over four weeks on, Joshua’s promoter Hearn has now addressed the situation, after a heckling fan accused him of ‘pulling’ his fighter out at a public event.
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“I think people over the last couple of weeks have seen maybe a different side to him, but he is still a very clever Tyson Fury.” Despite questioning the legitimacy of Fury’s actions during negotiations, Hearn labelled the Gypsy King a ‘tremendous fighter’ and believes the fight with Joshua ‘has to happen’.
He went on: “Tyson Fury, although he is a little bit up and down and I don’t believe everything he says, he is a tremendous fighter. For me the Anthony Joshua fight, is a fight that has to happen, it does.”