Eddie Hearn, promoter of Anthony Joshua, has suggested that Tyson Fury should be stripped of his WBC heavyweight title, if next month’s delayed fight with Deontay Wilder is once again pushed back.
Fury will return to the ring for the first time since February 2020 (where he also fought Wilder) to take on his heavyweight rival for the third time, as they face off at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on October 9.
The pair’s third heavyweight bout was set to take place in July, however it was forced to be suspended until October after the Englishman tested positive for COVID-19, putting the chances of the fight going ahead into question.
Whilst the Fury camp have assured the event will go ahead, promoter Hearn has doubts and believes that if the fight doesn’t then the ‘Gypsy King’ should be stripped of his WBC title.
Hearn – who promotes fellow British heavyweight Anthony Joshua – said: “I want it to happen 100 per cent. I want a winner of that finally sorted so we can try again to make Anthony Joshua’s undisputed fight.
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Hearn has however confirmed that he is confident that the all-British fight between Joshua and Fury will evtnually go ahead, targeting February 2022 as a possible date.
Speaking to TalkSport in July, the promoter said: “We wanted to do it in December, but I think with AJ fighting September 25, Fury now delayed until October, I think February is more realistic.”
Despite this, Hearn outlined that Joshua’s main concern for now is his bout with Usyk later this month.
He added: “They had a huge offer from Saudi Arabia to do the fight there, It is about generating as much money for the fight as possible.
“With fans back in the UK, is that an option? Las Vegas? We’ll see. But first things first, let’s just beat Usyk because if that doesn’t go to plan, we can forget about it,”